The Johto Journey
by Bennyj1093
Summary: Re-vamped. Kevin is an aspiring ten year old. When he arrives at Prof. Elm's lab to find all the pokemon are gone, he thinks the journey is over before it begun. But when Elm gives him a pokemon egg, Kevin will experience the journey of a lifetime.
1. The beginning of a journey

**A/N I've made a story kind of like this before, but this time it's with different, and hopefully more interesting characters. Please review! **

"BEEP! BEEEP!" The alarm sounded. Kevin literally exploded out of his bed and crashed onto his bedroom floor.  
"Stupid alarm clock!" He grunted, smashing the button to make the annoying sound stop. "(Yawwwn) Maybe I'll just rest my eyes a little longer, and get up in a couple...m-min-(snort-whistle-snort-whistle)" Kevin rested his head a fell into a deep sleep right there on the floor.

-------

"KEVIN! WHAT ARE YOU DOING, GET UP RIGHT NOW!" A voice screamed in his room. Kevin slowly opened his eyes, looking around to see what all the commotion was. He looked up to see his mom running around his room, and pulling out his clothes. "What have you been doing sleeping all this time? Didn't I set your alarm this morning?"

"Jeez Mom," I grabbed my head, nursing a headache, "Not only did you set up an alarm thats louder than a firetruck, but do you have to run in here and act as my own personal siren?"

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me young man." She wagged her finger. "You know very well that today's the day the Professor Elm comes back to town and starts giving out pokemon. We both agreed you'd get up early so you could get there before the place turns into a madhouse. Besides, you're the one whose been begging me for a pokemon."

"What?" He jumped up. "Wait, you mean that's today? I thought it was tommorrow. Oh no, than I've got to get out of here. Like, now!"

"Well I always tell you son," She continued, "Early to bed, Early to rise. But do you ever listen to me? No of course not. It's always--huh?" She looked up to see that Kevin had already left the room. "ohhh, that son of mine.

After Kevin quickly slipped on his clothes, he zipped down the stairs and began his way out the door. Just before he made it off the front steps, he remembered something. "Oh right," He stopped and ran back inside, grabbing his white and green cap with traditional orange pokeball sign on it. "I can't for get my cap for goodluck." He then ran back out the door and down the street to Professor Elm's laboratory. Once he got there he noticed no one was around. This surprised him. He expected for this place to be crowded. Afterall, this was the day the great Professor returned. That wasn't the only weird thing. The door was opened too. Kevin walked up the steps and right inside. "Um....Helooo?" He called out. "Anyone home?"

"Yes.' A voice said startling Kevin. He turned to the right to see Professor Elm himself standing right beside him looking completely wiped out.

Yikes!" He jumped, "Y-y-you're THE P-Professor Elm. And you're standing right here, n-next to me. It's like a dream. I-I mean an honor. S-such an honor. heheh."

"Don't be nervous young man." He said struggling to get up. "You'll have to excuse me though. I've dealt with so many trainers this morning, that I'm completely wiped out. But it's good to know that there are some people like you who just stop by to say hello. Isn't that right?"

"Um...heh," He hesitated, "Actually Professor, that's why sort of why I came here too."

"Whaaaa?" He exclaimed in disbelief, falling back in his chair.

"I'm sooooooo sorry Professor Elm. I completely and totally understand. I'll even go back home if you want. I shouldn't have disturned you anyway, that was wrong of me too. I'm really sorry Professor. Maybe I'll come back tommorrow, or if that's too soon than maybe next week. Or Possibly the week after, or the week after that or--"

"No no, I'm afraid you're misunderstanding me." He sighed, "I was hoping something like this wouldn't happen, but you see son, I'm afraid you're too late."

"T-too late? What do you mean?" All of the excitement inside him suddenly froze.

"I knew today I was going to be swamped with new trainers," He explained, "so I brought as many Johto starter pokemon back with me as I could. But there is always a limit. So as you can probably guess, I wasn't expecting anyone else extra, so I gave away my last pokemon to a trainer about an hour ago...."

"Oh...I see," Kevin's head suddenly became very heavy and sunk to the ground.

"I'm very sorry young man."

"N-no. Don't be sorry." He tried to talk over the lump that was growing in his throat. "I-It's my fault Professor. I-I should've been more responsible a-and gotten up when I was supposed. I'm sorry to have wasted your time."

"Hm..." Professor Elm sat deep in thought, as Kevin began to walk out of the door. It was then that he got an idea. "Wait! What did you say your name was again?"

"Huh?" Kevin looked up from being a bit distracted. "Oh, sorry. It's Kevin. Why?"

"Well Kevin, I think I may just have something for you. Follow me." Professor Elm turned around and began to walk deeper into the lab. Kevin walked inside and closed the door behind him. He followed the Professor until they reached a big room filled with computer and machines that Kevin would probably never understand until he was 30. The Professor stopped and turned to his desk where there was a big metal box. Kevin finally wanted to know what was going on.

"Professor, what's all this about?" Kevin asked, watching him open the box.

"I was thinking, you might have gotten here late, but somehow you do strike me as a responsible young man." The Professor picked up the box, and slowly walked over to Kevin with a serious look on his face. "Listen to me Kevin, inside this box is something very very important. It's something that I did not dare trust any of the other trainers with. Back there, you could've thrown a tantrum and yelled at me until I gave you a pokemon. But you didn't. You excepted your faults and showed maturity far beyond your age. Which is why, even by only knowing you for a mere 5 minutes, I know you are strong enough to handle what is in here." Kevin's heart began to race as the Professor placed. He was getting a second chance now. As his mind wondered of all the amazing pokemon that could be in the box, he sat down and pulled out what was inside. It was nothing like he had imagined, it was even better. Inside Kevin's hand was a real pokemon egg!

"A POKEMON EGG!" Kevin practically exploded from joy, almost dropping the egg out of his hands, but catching it once again. "Professor, where did you get this?"

"On my way traveling back home last week, I ran into a nice old woman." He explained, "She told me she was getting too old to continue her breeding center. So she gave it to me for safe keeping. And now, Kevin, I'm giving it to you. I'm trusting you with this egg."

"I-I don't know what to say..." Kevin sat speechless staring at the egg.

"Just promise me, you'll always take care of it. Promise me Kevin."

"Yes, I Promise Professor." Kevin nodded standing up. "I don't know how I could ever repay you.."

"Just by giving love to the pokemon inside here." Professor bent down to him, "Kevin, the pokemon inside here may not be what you expect. It's going to need lots of love. Can you give that to it?"

"Of course I can Professor. You can count on me."

"Good, than you better get out of here and start on your way if you don't want to be traveling at night."

"Right!" Kevin picked up the egg, and began running towards outside again. He waved back to him, "Goodbye Professor Elm, and don't worry, I'll take good care of this egg. Thank you so much!"

"Goodbye Kevin!" The Professor waved back. A warm smile came across his face as he saw the happy new trainer run out of his lab and to a new adventure.

.....

Instead of walking, Kevin ran all the way back home, eager to start on his new journey, while also careful to nurse his egg under his arm. He busted the door open and called out to his mom. "Hey mom! Where are you? I gotta get going!" He said as rushed into his bedroom, and put on his backpack, which was packed the night before.

"I'm down in the kitchen honey!" She called up to him. Kevin excitedly hopped down each stair then ran to his mother. "Okay, now let me see this new pokemon of yours!"

"Actually mom, I didn't get a pokemon." He snickered, "I got something even better. Check this out!"

"Oh..." His mom said puzzedly as she looked at the egg. "Thats very nice I guess sweetie. But your going on a pokemon journey. You need a pokemon."

"I know what you're getting at mom." Kevin stated firmly, but you promised me that I could go today. And Professor Elm made me promise him to love and care for this egg, and thats exactly what I'm going to do."

"Fine," She sighed, "I suppose there's no stopping you once you get motivated. But I want to give you something first."

"What is it?" He asked as his mom reached into her bag and pulled out an old scarf. "Er.....a scarf?"

"Sewed every part of it myself." She smiled and nodded.

"Um...mom, it's 70 degrees outside..."

"I know, but it gets cold out there in the world, alone. And you already have that hat of yours from your dad, and I just want you to have something to remember me by."

"Haha, thanks alot mom." Kevin smiled putting it around his neck. "So, how does it loo-WAH!" His mom embraced him in a big hug.

"Are you sure theres nothing I can do to make you stay?"

"Mother," Kevin giggled. "I'm going to miss you too, but please, it's time to let me go."

"Wow, you're beginning to sound more like your father everyday. Well then, I suppose theres nothing else I can say but, good luck. And I love you Kevin. With all of my heart."

"I love you too mom." He smiled as his mother gave him a kiss on his cheek. They both waled out of the door in silence. Just as Kevin was about to split from her, his mother engulfed him in another hug. "MOM!"

"Sorry, just a reflex." She giggled. "Goodbye my son!"

"Bye mom!" Kevin waved, walking out of New bark town until his mother was completely out of sight. He then looked down at the egg and imagined all of the wonderful things that would son becoming out of it. The adventure begins now.


	2. How Eggciting

After saying goodbye to is mother in New bark town, Kevin sat out on his way on route 29. With his new pokemon egg at hand, he now looks at a map, wodering which way to go next. "Man," He sighed, "This map is huge. I can't tell anything from this thing. Why would mom give me such an outdated map?" He got down on his knees and spread that map out. At the bottom he saw the date the map was made. "April 14, 1871 WHAT!!!!!???" He exclaimed. "I can't believe this, I won't be able to tell anything from this a map fromover 100 years ago. Oh well." He folded up the map and put it back in his backpack.

As Kevin continued to walk down route 29, he rubbed the egg gently with a wet wash cloth he picked up before leaving the house. As he walked he thought to himself of all the wonderful pokemon that could pop out. "I bet it's a Teddiurse. Or maybe a huge Tyranitar. Or maybe even a...GYARADOS!" Kevin cringed at the thought of the huge ferocious pokemon.

He turned to the right and saw a group of pokemon all hanging around together in the trees and the grass. "Cool!" His face lit up. He saw Sentret playing tag in the grass, and Spinarak making webs in the branches above. He even saw a Hoothoot playing in the trees above. "Hey I know, I'll look those pokemon up in the pokedex!" He said as he dug into his bag and pulled out an old scratched red pokedex. It was the first edition. Kevin scanned the pokemon with it, but a message popped up on it say "ERROR: SHUTTING DOWN!" It Pokedex turned off. "Argh!" Kevin grunted. "This Pokedex is old too. Mom must've went through grandpa's old stuff and given me that. Not to mention, I can't even catch any of these pokemon." He then took a look at the egg again which filled him with hope. He began to march on happily, "It's okay though, because the grass is green, the pokemon are chirping and the sun is shining brightly...huh?"

Just then, Kevin heard thunder. He looked up to see dark gray clouds closing in on the blue of the sky. "Oh great!" He sighed, as rain drops began to fall from the sky. "No worries, it's only a little drizzle. Come on little egg, let's keep moving."

In almost an hour, the rain was pooring down on Kevin. He did his best to cover the egg from getting drenched as well, but the wetness was beginning to seep through his shirt, and get the egg wet as well. "That's it." He sighed out of breath, sitting under a tree. "Taking a little rest wouldn't hurt. Atleast until the rain stops anyway." But the rain did not stop, it began to get worse, with even more thunder and lightning. Pretty soon the wind began to pick up. Kevin held the egg even closer, trying to keep it warm. "Gah! I can't stay out here anymore, I have to find shelter." He began to inch his way forward, when the powerful winds blue the egg right out of his hands before his very eyes.

"WAHHH! NOOOO!" He shouted as he began to chase after the egg. The Wind carried it through the forest, pulling it higher and higher and further away from Kevin. Kevin suddenly stopped when he saw where he was. Right at the edge of a cliff. He looked up at the egg which was still being carried over. Inconviently for Kevin, the wind decided to die down to a complete stop, letting the egg fall down right over the cliff.

"NOOOOO!" Kevin cried as he watched the egg fall past him then off the edge of the eart. Without thinking Kevin quickly dived after the egg off of the cliff. As he began to get closer to him, he willed himself right next to it, and grabbed it. "You're not getting away fromme that easily. AHHHHHHH!!!" Both Kevin and the egg spalshed into a river.

They both resurfaced in a matter of seconds. Kevin quickly grabbed the egg again, and searched for away to get back on land. The pouring rain in combination with the rush of the river made it extremely hard to see. He spotted a small rock in the middle of the island. He grabbed and then put the egg on top of it before pulling himself up. He then hopped onto land and rested under another tree. "Man, there is absolutely nothing that could make this day worse. huh?"

Suddenly, the egg began to glow. Flashing on and off with the brightest light Kevin has ever seen. It would hatch soon. But out here in this rain? "Oh no. Stay warm." He said, as he took off the scarf his mother gave him, and rapped the egg in it. He stould up, "I can't let you hatch out here in the cold. I have to get ou somewhere warm and safe." Kevin picked up the egg and began running up hill through the forest, praying he would fine some shelter. As he ran he heard a buzzing sound behind him. He turned around and saw a pack of beedrill chasing him. "Oh no, Beedrill! I must've disturbed them when I was running through the forest."

The Beedrill all zoomed towards him. Kevin quickly ducked under, them, though some stingers scratching against his skin anyway. "Ouch!" He winced in pain. He turned around to see the Beedrill were now blocking his path. But he wasn't going to take it. "Hey Beedrill! Listen to me right now! This pokemon egg is going to hatch soon, and I made a promise to a friend of mine that no matter what happened I would always protect it. So I'm not going to let you stop me from doing that. Let me through now!" The Beedrill did not listen and instead charged straight for him. "Then fine! Here goes nothing! AHHHHHH!!!!"

Kevin ran straight into the flock of beedrill. All of them doing there best to take him down. But Kevin did not stop. He felt them all stinging him and scratching at his skin but he didn't care. He only wanted to help the egg. Finally he made it past him. He wanted to stop but he couldn't. He kept running. Every inch of his body was hurting him but he kept running. "I (pant) can't stop. (Gasp) I have to (pant) find shelter (wheez)."

Soon he came to the edge of the forest. There were no trees, or grass. But buildings as far as the eye could see. He looked next him and saw a sign that read "Cherrygrove city"

Kevin ran through the terrible storm, still nursing the soon to be hatching egg. There were so many buildings around him, and Kevin wasn't sure which one was right for him to go into. He then looked straight in front of him and saw a building with a gigantic pokeball statue on the top. On fron were the words, "Pokemon center"

"Well if that's not a sign, I don't know what is." Kevin shrugged and ran straight for the building. The automatic doors swung open before him, and he ran right up to the front desk where a woman with red hair loops was standing.

"Oh my goodness!" She exclaimed when she spotted Kevin running through the doorway with all of his cuts and beedrill stings. She went around to tend to him. "Are you okay young man? What happened to you. You look terrible."

"You can't worry about me right now." Kevin panted, revealing the egg he was holding. "This egg is going to hatch soon, and its just been out in that pooring rain. Please, I promised I would keep it safe, and I just want it to be hatched well."

"Oh my!" She said. She then pointed to a room behind her front desk. "Hurry and go into the backroom. I'll get back there as soon as I can to help you. Hurry!"

"Right!" He nodded, not hesitating to jump over the desk and run back into the room. In the back room, there were rows of hospital beds. Kevin hadn't realized it before, but he now understood that this was some kind of hospital for pokemon. He quickly set the egg down on the nearest bed to him. He made sure it was still warmly rapped up in his scard, and fixed it so it was standing up on the bed right. Kevin was even more excited now. Every second was inching closer to him finally having his first pokemon. He began to whisper softly to it.

"Hey!" He said, "I don't know whose in there. But I want you to know that it's okay to come out now. And before you come out, you should also know that, no matter what happens I'll always take care for you. I've taken good care of you so far, and I don't care if you're the biggest pokemon ever, or the smallest one I've ever, that isn't going to change. So okay mystery pokemon. You can come out now."

Suddenly, instead of random glowing flashes, the egg began to glow straight through. The bright light, lit up the enitre room. Kevin watched in amazement as the egg began to change shape, and became a white figure with arms, legs, and a tail. When the light faded, Kevin couldn't believe his eyes. It was like nothing he had ever seen around New bark town.

"Squirtle!" The small happy pokemon said as it opened it first thing it saw was Kevin. It looked at Kevin curiously.

"Y-you're..." Kevin stammered in disbelief. "You're a Squirtle! A real live Squirtle! I can't believe it! I've never seen one up close before."

"Squir?" Squirtle turned it's head sideways in curiousity.

"Hi there Squirtle." He smiled, "My name is Kevin. You may not remember, but we've already been through alot together. And well, I really like you."

"Squir?" Squirtle continued to stare. It's curiousity suddenly turned into a joyous smile as it hopped right into Kevin's arms. "Squirtle! Squirtle!"

"I....can't believe it..." Kevin stood still. Just like squirtle, the look on his face suddenly turned into a smile as well. "Haha, Squirtle, does this mean you want to be my pokemon?"

"Squirt! Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle nodded happily, hugging it's new trainer with it's small stubby arms. Kevin's heart stopped beating fast, and just turned into warmth. "Squirtle!"

"That's great buddy!" Kevin returned the affection, by joining it in the hug. Just then, Nurse Joy walked into the room.

"Is everything okay in here. Oh my!" She gasped when she saw the pokemon had already hatched. And into a Squirtle for that matter. "A Squirtle? Why, aren't you a lucky young man."

"I sure am." Kevin smiled still hugging Squirtle.

"You probably don't realize this," Nurse Joy smiled, "but it's very uncommon for a starter pokemon from the Kanto region, to show up here in Johto. So this is a treat for both me and you."

"Oh, so that's why you didn't look that familar to me Squirtle."

"Well I hate to break the two of you up," She continued to smile, "But I should probably give this cute little newborn a checkup just to make sure everything is in order."

"Oh, okay!." Kevin began to hand over Squirtle to nurse joy. But as soon as he put it in her arms, it began to cry loudly.

"SQUUUUIIIIRRRTTTLLLE!" It shouted and cried, "SQUUIRTLE SQUIIRT! SQUUIRRTLLE!"

"My my!" She tried to contain it, "Aren't you a fussy one. Settle down Squirtle!" She tried to get Squirtle to settle down, but it wouldn't. She began to hand it back to Kevin. "Well there's always tomorrow."

"Yea..huh?" Kevin said, as Squirtle suddenly stopped its fuss as soon as it was in the comfort of Squirtle's arms again.

"Well, someone has the magic touch." Nurse Joy giggled, "Listen, it sounds like you had a rough day. Why don't I grab a room key for you so you can stay for the night?"

"Really? You could do that for me?" Kevin asked still holding Squirtle.

"Of course! This is a pokemon center afterall!"


	3. Cry babysitting

After nurse joy gave Kevin the keys to a room in the pokemon center, he and his new pokemon friend Squirtle headed upstairs to go to bed. Inside the room, their was a bathroom to the side, and two sets of bunk beds in the middle of the room. Kevin walked to the bed closest to his left.

"This looks like a great place to rest for tonight." He smiled setting Squirtle down on the bed. "You sit tight while I go wash up. I got pretty dirty running around out there in the forest. Be right back." As Kevin let go of Squirtle and began to walk towards the bathroom, Squirtle's eyes began to fill up with tears.

"Sq-Sq-" Its whimpers turned into a loud cry "SQUUUUIIIIRRTTTTLLLEEEE!"

"What the--?" Kevin quickly turned around, running back to Squirtle. "Hey, no! shhh! It's okay! I'm here Squirtle! Quiet down, people are trying to sleep."

"Squirtle" It suddenly stopped as Kevin picked it up. Its tears became a smile. "Squirtle! Squirtle!"

"Oh boy..." Kevin sighed. "Well, I guess I can just get washed up in the morning. Let's just....get some sleep. Okay?"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle nodded happily. Trying to continuosly hold Squirtle, Kevin took off his shoes, and his lucky hat. Squirtle was still wearing his scarf from when it hatched. Kevin took it off of Squirtle. They both got under the bed spread. Once Kevin let go of Squirtle, it wasn't afraid knowing Kevin was right next to it.

"Alright, good night Squirtle!" Kevin turned and closed his eyes. Five minutes into sleep he felt the covers moving off of him. Squirtle was taking all of the covers. "Hey wait a mintue, I need some covers too Squirtle." Kevin said as he pulled the sheets back.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle muttered stubbornly pulling them back.

"Squirtle, cut it out!" Kevin whined, pulling back the covers once again.

"Squirtle-squirt!" Squirtle pulled them back, this time a bit angrier.

"Grrr," Kevin sat up and turned to Squirtle. He grabbed a hold of the sheets. "That's it Squirtle, this mean war!"

"Squirt!" Squirtle held onto the sheets firmly. Kevin tugged the covers his way, as Squirtle pulled them the other. The two went back and forth, but neither would budge.

"You better give up, cause I'm not letting go-WAHH!" Kevin wailed as both him and Squirtle fell off the bed. Squirtle hit it's head on the way down. It began to cry.

"SQUUUUIIIRRTTLLLEE!!!!" It cried. Kevin quickly picked it up, and rocked it back and forth.

"Shh, hush little Squirtle. Everything's fine." Kevin said nervously. Squirtle began to quiet down again. It's eyes glazed over, and it immediately fell asleep. Kevin let out a sigh of relief. Not bothering to get back on the bed, Kevin pulled up enough covers for the both of them, and rested his head on the floor. Just as Kevin was about to close his eyes, he heard a loud snorting noise. Squirtle was snoring. "Oh boy, this going to be a long night."

---------------

The next morning, Kevin woke up just early enough so that Squirtle was still in a deep sleep, giving him a total of one hour of sleep. He walked into the bathroom and was able to take a quick shower, wash his clothes, and be already for the day before Squirtle woke up and began crying again. Kevin quickly ran to pick it up. "Good morning Squirtle!" Kevin smiled. Squirtle stopped crying like normal. "I hope you got a good enough sleep for the both of us. What do you say we go down stairs now?"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cheered, showing yes. Before they left, Kevin made the bed and made sure everything looked clean. He grabbed his backpack, and carried Squirtle out of the room. When they got downstairs, Nurse Joy was behind the desk. She smiled when she saw Kevin and Squirtle walk into the lobby.

"Hey there!" She smiled. "Did you sleep okay? There were some complaints of a loud infant crying. You didn't hear it, did you?"

"Oh, um....maybe...just barely though. heh,heh" Kevin said guiltily.

"Well thats good." Nurse Joy continued her work. "Because it would be terrible if you had a bad sleep on your first night away from home. So I guess I need to give Squirtle a check up now then-"

"GAH! NO!" Kevin quickly pulled Squirtle away from Nurse Joy's arms. "Sorry, but I don't think that's a great idea."

"(Sigh) Still crying huh?" Nurse Joy sighed putting her hands down. "I don't what to do. It wouldn't be very responsible of me, or very safe for Squirtle, to let it leave town without a check up."

"Well, we're not leaving town just yet. I think we need to get to know each other a bit more before we go."

"Okay, just make sure you see me before you do. So what's on the agenda today?"

"Well, I haven't really thought about it. Mom would probably say to get some breakfa-OH NO! MOM!"

"What's wrong?" Nurse Joy asked.

"My mom is going to kill me. I never called her to tell her that I made it here safely. And with the storm last night, she probably thinks Im dead."

"Than you better hurry and give her a call."

"I will, thank you Nurse Joy!" Kevin ran to the phone room.

Inside there was a row of green computer looking devices. They had phones on the side of them. Kevin ran up to the closest one to him and punched in his home phone number. The screen turned on, and in a matter of seconds, and Kevin's mother appeared looking very angry. "Kevin Prescott Mcnally!" (completely random name!) She crossed her arms. "You have alot of explaining to do young man. We talked about this weeks ago. We both agreed that you'd call me as soon you arrived to the first town!"

"I-I know mom. I forgot." Kevin explained.

"You forgot?" She exclaimed, "How could you forget? Do you have any idea how worried I was? Sitting here, watching that terrible storm last night, knowing that my little Kevin was out there, all alone! I mean, you don't even have a pokemon to protect you."

"Actually mom," Kevin held Squirtle up to the screen. "You'd be wrong about that. This is Squirtle, my new pokemon!"

"Oh wow!" Mrs. Mcnally's face lit up. "The egg hatched into a Squirtle? It's so adorable. Oh, and I have a friend of yours here who probably would like to see this too."

"Whose that?" Kevin itched his head.

"Hi there Kevin!" Professor Elm's face appeared on the screen. "How are you? I came over this morning to check up on you, when I your mom told that you'd already left out to Cherrygrove city."

"I'm fine Professor and-"

"WOW!" Kevin was interupted by the Professor's energetic reaction to the pokemon in Kevin's hand. "I had no idea that the egg would hatch into such a rare pokemon to the Johto region. How is it Kevin? Did you get it a check up yet?"

"Well thats the thing," Kevin explained, "I'm glad you're there Professor, because I kind of need your help. Whenever I put Squirtle down, or give it to someone else, it breaks out in this loud tantrum and starts crying. I barely got any sleep last night because of this little terror. It's really a handful. Like taking care of a baby."

"Well Kevin, that could be because it is a baby." The Professor laughed a bit.

"Wha-? Oh right, it did just hatch."

"Well, if you need a break, have you tried putting it in the pokeball I gave you?"

"Poke-ball?" Kevin suddenly remembered, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a small red and white ball. "I forgot all about this. All I have to do is put Squirtle in it's poke-ball, and then give it to Nurse Joy. Thanks alot Professor."

"You're very welcome Kevin. Well I need to get back to work. You make sure you call your mother every once in awhile. Okay?"

"I will Professor!"

"Bye honey! Be safe!" Mrs. Mcnally waved from the corner of the screen.

"Bye mom, love you!" Kevin signed off the screen. He looked down at Squirtle. "Alright Squirtle, time to get you into your poke-ball."

Kevin stood face to face with Squirtle. He could see Squirtle's eyes beginning to fill up with tears, since Kevin was not holding him. "It's all going to be okay Squirtle!" Kevin help up the poke-ball to Squirtle. He clicked a button and made it bigger. Squirtle flinched a little. "This is a poke-ball. In here is some kind of enviroment for pokemon like yourself. I'm sure you'll feel real safe in here. So are you ready? Return!"

"Squirt!" Squirtle quickly jumped to the side as the red light from the poke-ball shot at him.

"Huh?" Kevin looked surprised, "Hey, there's nothing to be afraid of Squirtle. I promise you'll be fine in here. Now return!"

"Squirtle squirt!" Squirtle jumped to other side, dodging the poke-ball once again.

"Squirtle, quit playing around!" Kevin began to get angry. "Come on, why don't you want to go in?"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle shook it's head then ran and clutched Kevin's leg. "Squirtle Squirt Squirtle!"

"No Squirtle! Return now!" Kevin demanded this time, trying once more.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle shook it's head once again. After dodging once more, Squirtle jumped at Kevin, knocking the poke-ball out of his hands and into the air.

"Squirtle, what are you doing?" Kevin exclaimed, looking up in the air at the pokeball. The poke-ball fell smack onto the ground and smashed into pieces. "NOOOO!" Kevin quickly ran, picking the pieces up. "No, no, no, no, no, please no!"

"Squirtle..." Squirtle slowly walked up to Kevin. It tapped on Kevin's shoulder.

"Grrrr, GET AWAY FROM ME!" Kevin turned around to Squirtle infuriated. Squirtle quickly bounced back. "Look what you've done! Are you even sorry?" Squirtle did not answer. It just stood looking up at Kevin. It's eyes glistening. "Ever since you hatched you've done nothing but cause trouble. I can't even put you down without you causing a mess. When the Professor first gave me your egg, although I was hoping for a different pokemon, i tried to keep an open mind. Then when you hatched, I though we could be friends. I thought you could be a great pokemon. But you're not! You're just...grrr.....ANNOYING!"

"What on earth is going on in here?" Nurse Joy ran into the phone room hearing all the screaming.

"Squir..squir...SQUUUIIIRRTTTTLLLLEE!" Squirtle burst out into a loud cry. It ran the opposite way, and out of the room.

"Hey, where are you going?" Kevin began to chase after Squirtle, when Nurse Joy grabbed him.

"Kevin, you didn't yell at Squirtle did you?" She looked at him seriously.

"No...I...I was just trying to..." Kevin stuttered.

"Kevin I'm surprised at you," Nurse Joy crossed her arms, "Now I know I haven't known you that long, but I thought you would know better than to yell at a NEWBORN pokemon."

"Nurse Joy..I'm so sorry....what do I do now?"

"You better get out there in the lobby, and comfort your pokemon this instant, before you lose it forever."

"Right." Kevin sighed dissapointed in himself. He had gotten so angry at Squirtle, he forgot that he was dealing with not only a baby, but a pokemon. His pokemon. He had to set things straight. He walked out into the lobby. But Squirtle was nowhere in site. "Huh? Squirtle? Where'd you go?" He then looked to his right. There was a window open. "Oh no! no no no no no!"

"What's wrong now?" Nurse Joy ran out of the phone room, seeing Kevin by the window.

"It's Squirtle," Kevin turned around with his head down, "he's.....gone!"

"Oh dear.." Nurse Joy put her hand over her mouth, "I was afraid something like might happen. Squirtle must've felt unloved. And what pokemon would stay in a place where no one would love them? Poor baby."

"I have to go look for Squirtle." Kevin stated firmly.

"What? Kevin, Squirtle's a small pokemon, with fast legs." She said, "It could be miles away from here by now."

"There's no choice to make here Nurse Joy." Kevin stated firmly once again, "I made a mistake. Me. And now I have to fix it. And this is about more than my development of a trainer. This is about my development as a person, and even more important, my relationship with a pokemon that I hatched. I have to get Squirtle back!"

"Right, I understand." Nurse Joy smiled. "Then you better leave now before it gets away."

"Right! Thank you for everything Nurse Joy! I'll come back as soon as I find Squirtle." Kevin ran out of the pokemon center.

"Good luck." She waved.


	4. Oh where oh where has my pokemon gone?

Cara had arrived at Cherrygrove city this morning. Although she left her home of New bark the same time the day before, she wasn't in much of a hurry to go from town to town. She really just wanted to see the world, and get to know her new pokemon, Chikorita, better. "Chikorite," She called taking out her poke-ball, "come hang out with me!"

"Chiko-Chiko!" The small green pokemon appeared out of the ball, bouncing around happily. It hopped into Cara's lap.

Cara was twelve years old. She lived with both her mom, dad, and her little brother Joey, in New Bark town. Like someone else we know, Cara's parents were a bit over protective. They never wanted her to leave home. In fact, she kind of left without their permission. She woke up early the morning the famous Professor Elm was supposed to come back to town. She was the first one at his lab. In a couple of hours, the Professor arrived, and he gave her Chikorita. The two of them got along great almost right away. It was then that she decided she had to leave. So she grabbed her things from home and left.

Now she was sitting in the middle of the market place in Cherrygrove city. She sits by the fountain thinking about what her family was doing right now. Though she was glad to finally get away from home, she had to admit, she felt a little bit guilty for leaving her family. Esepcially her little brother Joey. Joey was always so dependant on her. He followed her everywhere, and although he was only 8, he was one of her closest friends. "Chikorita, I think I made a mistake." She sighed.

"Chiko?" Chikorita looked confused and innocent.

"Don't get me wrong, it sure is great being with you," She continued, "but, I'm worried about my little brother Joey. And my parents are probably worried sick. Maybe we should give them a call, just so they know we're ok."

"Chiko chi!" Chikorita bounced up and down smiling. Cara got up and began to walk in search for a phone.

Meanwhile, Squirtle had been running for what seemed for hours ( a mere 10 minutes) It then rested on the ground when it got to the market. It looked up seeing all the happy trainer, hugging and playing with their pokemon. That made it sad. It then looked to it's right where it saw a booth that was selling some fruit. Squirtle hadn't eaten since it was hatched, so naturallly it was hungry. It quickly ran up to the booth and grabbed an apple. Just as it began to take a bit, a man appeared from behind the booth. He was very tan and bulky. He must've been the owner. "Hey Squirt!" He said nastily, "you plannin' on buying that apple?"

"Squir..." Squirtle backed up looking scared. It began to run the other way with the apple when the man grabbed it by it's tale. Squirtle began to cry loudly.

"Shuttup you little Squirt! Give me back the apple!" He fiddeled with Squirtle.

"Huh?" Cara said, walking by the booth with Chikorita. She saw the way the man was holding Squirtle and decided something had to be done. "Uh...excuse me...what are you doing with that Squirtle? Why is it crying so loud?"

"Mind your own buisness little girl." He sneered continuing to fight with Squirtle.

"Hmph," Cara was beginning to get angry, "I think you better let go of the little guy now. Kay?"

"I think you'd better run along with your other litte girlfriends before I give you a knuckle sandwhich."

"Look 'muscle head'!" Cara was making a fist now. "Let go of the pokemon right now, or I promise you and your biceps will regret it!"

"This thing needs to learn a lesson, I'm taking it with me!" He said, turning around with Squirtle still in his clutches.

"Oh no you don't!" Cara turned to Chikorita, "Chikorita, vine whip now!"

"Chiko!" Chikorita shot two vine, and wrapped the man's arm, forcing him to drop Squirtle. Squirtle landed on it's feet and began to run away, still holding the apple.

"LET GO OF ME!" The man shouted.

"Hey, come back little fella." Cara chased after Squirtle. Chikorita unwrapped the mans arm and followed. Squirtle ran all through the market, knocking down stands, messing up booths, and scaring many people. Finally, it found it's way out of the market. Cara stopped as she watched it run away. "Don't go..."

Meanwhile, Kevin continues his search for Squirtle, wondering how he could possibly apologize to his pokemon. Suddenly, he hears screams from a market square near by. "What was that thing? What a little terror. Where's it's trainer." He heard voices saying. He quickly ran into the market. Everything was topsy turvy. "What happened here?" he thought. Forgetting he was still running, he bumped into a girl. "Ow!"

"Ow yourself!" The girl said, rubbing her head. She opened her eyes. "Wait, your...KEVIN?"

"CARA?" Kevin jumped up.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?!?" They both said pointing at each other. Cara spoke, "Me? I'm on a pokemon journey. What's your excuse."

"FYI so am I." Kevin crossed his arms. There was obviously some tention between the two. "Grrr, I can't believe you're here. Didn't your parents say you couldn't go on a journey?"

"That's none of your business." Cara retorted, "Wait a second. If you're on a pokemon journey then where's your pokemon? Huh, Mr. Bigshot?"

"Oh, that's kind of what I'm wondering too..." Kevin began to sulk.

"Ha! You lost your pokemon. That's pathetic. But that's Kevin always been an airhead."

"Grr, look, do you know where my Squirtle is or not-WAH!" Kevin was interupted by the man from the fruit booth who grabbed him by the collar.

"You little runt," The man said, "You mean to tell me that, that trouble making turle belongs to you?"

"W-what? Squirtle was here?" Kevin said scared yet concerned at the same time. "Please let me go!"

"Chikorita, vine whip again!" Cara ordered. Chikorita shot out vines once again, whipping the Man off of Kevin and onto the ground. Cara grabbed Kevin, "Come on, we have to run now! Come on Chikorita!"

"But Cara, what's going on here? Where are we going?" Kevin asked as Cara pulled him out of the Market place.

"Squirtle ran this way." She explained as they ran, "Chikorita and I found 'the hulk' over there trying to strangly your Squirtle. We tried to stop him and things turned ugly. Squirtle just left, so it can't be too far from here. Phew."

"(pant,pant)" Kevin caught his breath as they found a place to stop running. "Wow, a Chikorita. Hey, did Professor Elm give it to you?"

"He sure did. I was the first one at his lab yesterday." Cara smiled proudly petting Chikorita.

"heh, I was the last....that's when he gave me Squirtle."

"Wait," The two began walking down the street, while still searching for Squirtle. "the Professor only gave out Johto starters, not Kanto starters."

"Actually, when I got there, the Professor had no pokemon left at all." Kevin explained, "I was so bummed out. But then the Professor gave me a pokemon egg. So we started out to cherrygrove city, and thats when things started going screwy. My pokedex wasn't working, my map was outdated. Then this terrible storm started, and the egg almost cracked in half. We even had to run through a pack of beedrill. Then when I made it to the pokemon center it hatched into Squirtle. The look on it's face just made me want to be by it's side forever and ever."

"Wow," Cara was amazed, "It's like you and Squirtle went through so much before it even hatched. But wait, what changed? Why did it run away?"

"Well..." Kevin continued, "After it hatched it became such a handful. I couldn't let it go without it breaking out into a cry, it took all the covers when I tried to sleep and it snored like a monster truck or something. I just barely got to get dressed this morning. Then, it broke it's pokeball. I got so angry, I yelled at it, and it ran away from me. So...it's my fault."

"Ha, well then...huh?" Cara was about to say something smart when she saw the sad look on his face. "then..I guess we'll just have to keep looking until we find Squirtle. Besides, I know how it feels to do something rash and the regret it."

"Really? What mistake did you make?"

"Uh...heh,heh, nothing. Nothing at all! Let's just look for Squirtle okay?"

Cara and Kevin searched high and low, right to left, and east to west all over cherrygrove city looking for Squirtle, but it was nowhere to be found. Kevin didn't show it, but he was beginning to lose hope. "I can't think of anywhere else that pokemon could be. I'm sorry Kevin." Cara said.

"It's fine," Kevin sighed, "But i'm not giving up yet. You can go back to the pokemon center and rest. I'll catch up with you once I get Squirtle."

"Kevin come on," Cara said, "don't you think you're being a little unrealistic? I mean if we haven't found it anywhere yet what makes you think it's going turn up now?"

"Look, I don't give up on the people I care about that easily, got it?" Kevin stated firmly.

"Whatever, but I don't think Squirtle's just going to appear in front of you." She began to walk away when she saw the man from earlier running down the street. He was carrying something "Hey, isn't that Muscley arms? What's that he's got in his hands."

"No, it can't be." Kevin was beginning to recognize the figure in his hands.

"MWahahahahaha, I finally got this little runt. And now it's going to pay for ruining my booth!" The man laughed maniaclly. He was holding Squirtle."

"He's got Squirtle!" Kevin watched in disbelief as the man ran past him. He then began to chase after him. "Come back here you kidnapper!"

"Hey, wait for me!" Cara shouted following the two with Chikorita. Cara and Kevin continued to chase the man deeper into town, where there were much taller buildings and bigger crowds of people. They shouted at him to stop, but he kept running. Kevin could see Squirtle crying and squirming. Soon they came to the biggest crowd of people. They lost the man. "Where'd he go?"

"I don't know!" Kevin said looking around. He then spotted the man running into one of the tallest buildings in town. "There he is. After him! Hurry!" Both Cara and Kevin ran after him, but we're ceased, when the doors slammed behind him. Kevin pulled on the doors but they wouldn't budge. "No! Open up now!"

"Oh shoot, look up there!" Cara pointed to the top of the building. Kevin moved back so he could see what she was seeing. The man was now on the roof, still holding Squirtle. Squirtle was crying worse than it had ever now. It was so scared.

"LET GO OF MY SQUIRTLE NOW!" Kevin shouted up to him.

"Make me!" He laughed.

"Fine then," Cara turned to Chikorita once again, "Alright Chikorita, this time use razor leaf and knock that jerk down."

"CHIKKOOOOO!" Chikorita shot a series of bladed leaves up at the roof. The leaves hit the man, knocking him over. Squirtle landed on it's feet once again. It was still crying.

"Squirtllleee-squirt squirt squuuirrttllle," It weeped.

"Squirtle listen to me," Kevin called up to it.

"Squirt?" Squirtle stopped it's weeping to look down and see Kevin.

"I know you're angry with me, and I know you probably don't trust me anymore." He continued, "But no matter what our differences are, I don't want you to get hurt. So you have to listen to me. I need you jump down!"

"SQUIRT!" Squirtle jumped.

"What? Have you completely lost it?" Cara had the same reaction. Kevin ignored her.

"If you don't you might get captured by that man again," he continued, "and I care way too much for you to let that happen. I promise I'm right here, and I'll catch you. Please, you have to trust me!"

"Squirtle..." Squirtle stood closer to the edge of the roof.

"On the count of three okay? 1.....2.....3....JUUMMMPPP!"

"SQUUUIIIIRRRTTTLLLE!" Squirtle closed it's eyes and jumped off of what seemed like the edge of the earth. Kevin stood still and caught Squirtle in his arms.

"I've got you buddy, and I'm not ever letting go."

Kevin stood there, surrounded by a crowd of people watching the scene, hugging the pokemon that got away from him. Squirtle looked confused. Tears were still left in it's eyes from before. Kevin pulled Squirtle out so he could see it's face. There were tears filling in Kevin's eyes. "Squirtle..." He spoke, "I am sooo sorry. I swear, I never meant to hurt you or make you run away. You have to believe that I would never want that. You're my pokemon. The only one that I've ever known, and I don't want to lose you ever, ever, again. Please, can ever forgive me?"

"Squirtle?" Squirtle turned it's head sideways in confusion. Suddenly, Kevin saw that look he saw when Squirtle first hatched. The confusion on his face turned into a smile, and Squirtle bounced away from his grip, and hugged him around his neck. "Squirtle! Squirtle! Squirt!"

"Thank you so much!" Kevin smiled, returning the hug once again, "I promise you can trust me."

Cara giggled watching them. She bent down to Chikorita, "Chikorita," She said, "We can trust each other too right?"

"Chiko!" Chikorita nodded.

"Good," Cara smiled petting Chikorita, "And whatever we decide to do, let's promise we'll do our best at it okay?"

"So Cara," Kevin said holding Squirtle, "What are you and Chikorita planning to do next?"

"Oh, well we were going to the pokemon center to take care of something but i..."

"Alright! That's where we're going too! There's actually something Squirtle and I have to take care of as well."

"Kay, guess I could let you tag along for awhile." Cara smirked. She pulled out her poke-ball. "Return Chikorita!"

The two made their way to the Cherrygrove city pokemon center. On the way, Kevin introduced his 'aquaintance" from back home, Cara, to Squirtle. In case you didn't know, Kevin and Cara were grade school classmates. Kindergarden sweethearts who turned into hometown rivals. The two were almost complete opposites, but they both shared a love for pokemon.

When the two walked into the center Nurse Joy ran to Kevin. "Thank goodness," She let out a sigh of relief, "you've been gone for hours. I was afraid you weren't going to be able to find Squirtle."

"For awhile their, so did I." Kevin smiled.

"Hell there Squirtle," She bent down smiling to Squirtle, "We've met before, but my name is Nurse Joy. You gave Kevin and I quite a scare before. You're such a cutie, and I'd really love it if you came with me so I could make sure you'll be feeling good for a long time. How about it?" Squirtle flinched a little.

"Hey Squirtle," Kevin smiled at it. "Remember when I promised you that you could trust me? Well now I need you to trust me that I know Nurse Joy won't hurt you. She's a very nice lady who wants to help pokemon like you. So go on. Go with Nurse Joy. I'll be right here when you're done. I promise."

"Squirt.." Squirtle was scared as Kevin sat him down on the floor. Nurse Joy put her hand out to it. Squirtle inched forward hesitantly. It finally took her hand. It did not cry, it did not scream. It smiled.

"See, there you go cutie." Nurse Joy giggled. She then looked up noticing Cara. "Oh, and who's this?"

"This is-"

"I'm Cara," Cara interupter chaking hands with Nurse Joy. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you. Would you like me to give your pokemon a check up?"

"Yes please," She pulled out Chikorita's poke-ball. "Thank you very much!"

"Your welcome very much!" Nurse Joy giggled. They watched as she walked into the back to help their pokemon.


	5. First Battle: Hero Renji

**A/N if this chapter seems confusing it's because it was done as a cross-over on an RP site. (The entire story is actually an RP I started awhile back.)**

Kevin walked into the phone room. Cara followed. She intentionally did not call her parents, just because Kevin was there. She was still fighting with herself what to do next. Kevin called Professor Elm, and told him all about the adventure that happened that day.

"I'm proud of you Kevin." The Professor said. Kevin looked confused, "You made a huge mistake yes, but you had the responsibility and maturity to deal with your own mistakes. Just like when I gave you the egg. You continue to amaze me Kevin."

"Trust me, it wasn't planned Professor." Kevin laughed a bit.

"And I see you met up with Cara." The Professor said spotting Cara in the corner of the screen, "Hi there Cara. I hope you're taking good care of Chikorita."

"Don't worry Professor, I'm taking care of both Chikorita, and not to mention this knucklehead next me." Cara teased.

"Haha," The Professor laughed. Kevin was not amused. "Oh, speaking of meeting up with people, I think there's someone you should meet Kevin."

"Who's that?"

"He's a good friend of mine." The Professor explained, "I met him around three years ago and he is a good friend of mine. He's headed over to Cherrygrove for a pokemon contest."

"Pokemon contest?" Cara thought.

"What's his name Professor?" Kevin asked.

"His name is Rengii. He's a bit older than you but he can probably help you learn alot."

"Alright," Kevin turned to Cara, "Cara, we should go search for this Rengii guy. I bet he could help both of us. He can't be that hard to find."

"Uh-huh, just like Squirtle right?" Cara muttered.

"I heard that." Kevin retorted, "We promise we'll meet up with him Professor. Thanks alot! Ba bye!"

"Bye!" The Professor signed back off the screen. Kevin and Cara went back into the waiting room, and waited for their pokemon. Soon, Nurse Joy returned with Squirtle, and Cara's poke-ball. Squirtle was hopping around happily.

"Hey there!" Kevin smiled as Squirtle bounced into his arms. "Ya see. That wasn't too bad, was it?

"I'm happy to report that both of your pokemon are completely healthy." Nurse Joy smiled.

"Thank you!" Cara smiled taking her poke-ball.

"Yeah, thanks for everything!" Kevin smiled, "Squirtle, thank Nurse JOy for helping us out!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle waved.

"Goodbye, and good luck!" Nurse Joy waved as they walked out.

"Alright, so where do we find this Rengii guy?" Cara asked with her hands on her hips. "I'm really in no mood for playing Marco Polo."

"Whatever," Kevin rolled his eyes. He then spotted a boy walking up the road. "Wait, who's that?"

*** (Into Renjis perspective)

Hey isn't that the squirtle I heard about on the radio?! Yes..an infant squirtle. Could that kid really be the thief? Eh, I'll radio in.

"Hello this is officer Renji, I have located the infant Squirtle within the hands of a young trainer: how should I proceed?"

"This is officer Jenny. We have no confirmed reports of the Squirtle being safe, treat the trainer as a suspect: use force if necessary."

"Understood Jenny, that Squirtle will be in safe hands soon."

Renji had a strange feeling about all this, could it really be a kid? Renji slowly walked toward the Squirtle in the arms of a young male trainer next to a young girl.

"Excuse me sir, I need you to hand over the Squirtle immediately."

"What! It is mine, I just got it back from some strange guy! I don't need any more problems!," Kevin sounded surprised and annoyed at the same time.

"Sir, please hand over the Squirltle..NOW!"

"Get away from me! Cara run!" The two ran in the opposite direction of Renji, already tense from the earlier battle.

"STOP..DANG IT!" Renji had no choice, but to use force on a couple of kids. He had to be careful.. "Go, Snorunt!" In a flash the small pokemon emerged from its ball. "Use Icy Wind!" Kevin and Cara stopped dead in their tracks. A bitter cold had settled over them.

"That's it, I don't know who you are, but obviously your trying to take my Squirtle, so I'm taking you down just like the last guy," Kevin signaled Cara to get out a Pokemon and they both took their choice. Renji knew this wasn't going to end well, but for the safety of that Squirtle it had to be done. He could not trust that this boy was its trainer, so he prepared to fight with Snorunt.

"Go chikorita!" Cara called her pokemon out. Chikorita appeared out of the pokeball. Cara looked over at Kevin who was holding Squirtle. He seemed to be thinking hard. "Wait a second, you're not actuallty thinking of putting Squirtle out in battle are you?"

"Why not?" Kevin said.

"Maybe because it just hatched, not even 24-hours ago." Cara rolled her eyes. "It'd be stupid of you to put a pokemon out in battle this early. You haven't even started training yet."

"Oh yeah, well how about it Squirtle? You want to battle don't you?" Kevin asked. Squirtle's head shrunk into it's shell. "Squirtle?"

"Move over!" Cara pushed Kevin. "I'll take care of this right now. Chikorita, razor leaf!"

"Chiko!" Chikorita shot out a series of bladed leafs hurling for snorunt.

"Hmph, is that all? Snorunt ice beam!" A fierce beam erupted from Snorunt, freezing the leaves midair. The beam struck Chikorita hard, also being super effective.  
"Chikorita use Vine Whip!," Cara was getting angry. The whip struck Snorunt across the mouth and her face turned a bright red.  
All of a sudden out of fury Snorunt launched a blizzard at Chikorita.

"NO! Snorunt stop that will hit the Squirtle!" Renji knew it was too late though. The blizzard blew into Chikorita, but its destructive force carried on..straight at Kevin and Squirtle.

"WAHHHHHH!!" Kevin screamed. He put his head down, when suddenly Squirtle leaped out of his arms, making the blizzard hit Kevin, but miss Squirtle. Kevin fell to the ground. Squirtle, who was still in the air, came down and landed on snorunt. Snorunt winced in (minor) pain. Cara quickly ran over to kevin.

"Are you okay?" Cara asked.

"Yea, but..." Kevin looked over at Squirtle. "Did Squirtle just use a move?"

"Yea, in fact, I think Squirtle just learned tackle."

"Squirt!" Squirtle made two pretend muscles with it's arms. It then turned to Snorunt. Squirtle was ready to battle if it had to.

"What? Fight..the..Squirtle?! I'm saving it not fighting it!" Renji just then realized the Squirtles trainer was actually this boy.

"Squirtle use tackle!" commanded Kevin. Squirtle jumped and charged right into Rengii's face, knocking him to the the ground.

"Stop! Stop! Snorunt return! I'm so sorry, I thought you guys were the Squirtle thiefs." Kevin and Cara gave Renji a "WHAT?!" look. "See look here is my badge, I help out the police force from time to time. Deputy Renji at your service, just trying to help."

Then a spark went off in Kevin's head. "What did you say your name was again?

"My name is Rengi...hence the name on my badge..." Renji showed them his badge once more.

"Ha! So you're the guy! See Cara, I told you it wouldn't take long." Kevin picked up Squirtle excitedly.

"Hmm. I don't see why it's so important for us to meet a guy who attacks innocent kids." She muttered. Renji looked real confused.

"Ignore her," Kevin held out his hand for Renji to shake. "My name is Kevin. You've already met Squirtle, and the one with the sour attitude is Cara. My friend, Professor Elm wanted us to meet you."

"Ah, the proffesor and I go a bit back." Renji remembered back to the day he met the proffesor; a day that had begun with a horrible accident. The day he would never forget. "I was actually here for a contest, but I decided to just continue on the road after being in another police case, it gives you such an exciting rush." (I'm a judge so decided to keep Renji out.)

"That's cool, it was a all just a big misunderstanding I guess. Well it's great to finally meet you." Kevin seemed interested in what Renji could help him with in his journey.

"Ya sure, great to meet you and your smallfry Snorunt," Cara said abnoxiously. Renji just ignored her and continued on. The two talked for a while about their Pokemon and a bit of their history. Kevin did much of the talking since Renji wasn't supposed to even reveal the organization he used to work for.  
Kevin and Renji were already becoming friends even though Cara would occasionly but in with one dumb statement after another.

"So Renji when did you get Snoru-"

"OWWWWWW! Get off me you jerk!" Cara had been tripped to the floor by a muscular man and he was kicking her stomach.

"How do you like me now girly! No razor leaf to back you up, huh?!" The hulky man said with a smirk across his face.

"Cara!" Kevin was horrified that the Squirtle-napper was back. And hurting Cara. "GET OFF HER!"

"Make me twirp!."

Renji turned at the man and glared. "So it was you! Your going to pay, for kidnapping Squirtle and harming a a young girl!" Renji immediatly called out Snorunt. At the same time Squirtle stepped up to the plate on its own will.

"Squirtle do you really want to fight?" Squirtle nodded and Kevin was amazed by the sudden spark of courage.

"Oh ya, well I got some Pokemon myself." The muscle man kicked away Cara and raised his hands, pokeballs in both...

The man tossed his pokeballs into the air. Out came to strong looking pokemon. Kevin had never seen either of the before. "Man, I wish I had working pokedex." He said.

"I've got one." Renji pulled out his pokedex. It read that the two pokemon were Machop and Machoke. Two strong pokemon, just like their trainer. This wasn't going to be an easy battle. Kevin got into his battle stance.

"Cara," Kevin looked over at Cara who was passed out on the ground, "Don't worry, we're going to help you. Squirtle, tackle attack now!"

"Squirt!" Squirtle charged for the smaller pokemon, machop, and pounced onto it. Machop did nothing but throw it off to the other side. It looked like it did little damage.

"Er....try it again, from another angle!" Kevin commanded.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle nodded. It charged once again, trying to pin machop down, but this time machop dodged, making Squirtle fall. Squirtle began to cry.

"Ay-yie-yie!" Kevin slapped his forehead. He thought this was over with.

"Ha!, you're going to need to use more than just that one move to beat me kid!" The man laughed. "Machop, use low kick."

"Chop!" Machop jumped into the air and was coming down for Squirtle with it's foot in front.

"Squirtle, run!" Kevin shouted frantically. Squirtle didn't hesitate to dodge the move. Machop tried again, but Squirtle dodged just like before. The same thing happened over and over again everywhere. Machop was beginning to tire out.

"Man, one thing about Squirtle, it sure is fast." Kevin looked at the battle in amazement. He then looked over to Renji, "But what are you going to do? Machoke will come after Snorunt soon!

" A Machoke? Ice on Fighting: Perfect. Snorunt use double team!"  
Snorunt circled around the Machoke faster than the eye could see. The Machoke being not the sharpest tool in the shed, began to flail around throwing punches. "Now use Ice Fang!" Snorunt leaped inward and bit the Machoke. The ice threw it back, the Machoke being severly injured.

"Oh you'll pay for that, Machoke, use Revenge!" The Machoke tensed up and flung a punch directly at Snorunt.

"Dodge Snorunt!..NO!" It was too late the punch made contact and Snorunt collapsed. "Snorunt get up, can you hear me?"  
It did not respond.

"Oh I can help you with that, Machoke use Wake-Up Slap!" Machoke vigourosly slapped Snorunt back and forth knocking futher and further every time. "Now use Dynamicpunch." Machoke wound up preparing for a final blow. Snorunt couldn't move and Machoke quickly threw the punch...

Squirtle was still running around, dodging Machop. The small, bulky pokemon had had just about enough by now. Squirtle, obliviously ran in front of Machoke, cutting off the it's path and making the dynamic punch take a wrong turn. Squirtle stopped running. It wasn't tired at all. "Alright Squirtle!" Kevin cheered.

Snorunt suddenly opened it's eyes. Both Renji and Kevin could tell, just by looking at it that it was seriously weak. Machop was worn down and Machoke was still standing strong. It looked like the match was at midway at this point.

"Squirtle, you have to help Snorunt out of there!" Kevin called to Squirtle. Squirtle nodded and tried to carry Snorunt away.

"Machoke, Dynamic punch again!" The man shouted with anger.

"Oh no, it's not going to miss this time!" Kevin thought. He wasn't sure if he could take all the pressure. This was his first battle after all. "Renji's pokemon is down now, and it's up to Squirtle and I now. I can't just keep using the same attack. Unless....unless we try using it at a different angle. That's it! Squirtle, tackle right in Machoke's stomach."

"Squir...?" Squirtle said hesitantly. It wasn't sure about attacking a pokemon who was about to throw a full on attack.

"You have to trust me! Machoke will throw the punch any second now, you have to do this before it's too late. You can do it!"

"Squir..." Squirtle hesitantly moved forward. It then began to run faster, gaining confidence. "SQUUUIIIRRTTLLLE!"

"Machhoo--" Machoke stopped dead in it's tracks as it felt something nail it in the stomach. Squirtle did it. Machoke fell back onto Machop. Knocking Machop out for good.

"Alright Squirtle!" Kevin cheered. He looked at Snorunt who was gaining strength. "Renji, Squirtle's not strong enough to take Machoke down for good. Please help!"

"You thought we didn't have an ace in the hole? It's finally time: Snorunt use bide!" A huge force of power was released from Snorunt, its started glowing a bright red as the power was bashed into Machoke. Machoke hurdled backward completely surprised by the sudden power. "This is it, use your signature move..Blizzard!" The icy attack rushed into Machoke, knocking it out instantly. Snorunt made a smirk, impressed by its own power.

"What how did that runt beat my Machoke!!!" The bulky man was unfuriated. "GET UP! GET UP! GET UP!"

"Haha," Kevin laughed watching the man hopelessly yell at his pokemon. "Your pokemon are toast, there's no use in ordering around a knocked out pokemon."

"That's it, i'll take you both out with my fist!" He said angrily.

"I wouldn't try that if I were you." Renji stated firmly, with Snorunt in front of him, as well as Squirtle in front of Kevin. Renji pulled out his police badge. "I'll have you placed under arrest!"

"Hehe.." The man smirked looking at the badge. "So you're Renji, huh?"

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Renji asked confused.

"Nothing you need to know. But, this little encounter helped me out alot. Thanks kiddies!" A puff of smoke suddenly appeared, making both Kevin and Renji cough. Kevin quickly scrambled for Squirtle, picking it up as soon as he found it. When the smoke dissapeared, so had the bulky man.

"That was sure weird...where did he go?" Kevin itched his head. He then remembered Cara. "Oh no! Cara!" He quickly ran to her helping her up. "Cara, wake up! Are you alright?"

"W-wha?" Cara opened her eyes, rubbing her head. She then remembered everything. "Gah! Where's that guy? When I'm with him I'll--"

"Chill Cara, Renji and I took care of it." Kevin laughed a little.

"Well did you now?" Cara said a bit annoyed looking at Renji. She then looked around, not seeing the man anywhere. "Well, you obviously didn't do that good of a job. You let the beast get away! Where is he?"

"I don't know..." Kevin looked up at Renji. "What did he mean though Renji? Do you know that guy from somewhere?"

"I..I don't think so." Renji seemed dumbfounded, not knowing who the man was. "Wait a second!" He remembered seeing a "G" tatoo on the mans left arm..Could it really be.."them?" Then it hit him, the entire vivid memory of the first time he saw this guy. On that day three years ago, that he could never forget.

***

(Read this before continuing if you haven't. ./index....read=1196017442 This is a continuation of the conversation that took place before Renji headed off to the plane.)

_3 years earlier.._

"So Captain Policastro, the plane we are boarding, how many does it hold?" Said a 16 year old Renji.

"Does it really matter? I'm sure everything will be just fine, let it go. You worry far to much at your age. We just need to go investigate team Galaxy and we will be on our way. " Cpt. Policastro smiled at Renji knowing it was his first serious mission and led him outside.

"Worry too much? Something could go wrong, what if we are in over our heads?"

"Just don't worry about it Renji.."

It all felt wrong. This mission had been thrusted upon them and even his Captain should know that. But for some reason Captain Policastro remained calm..Renji didn't know how.

Renji was nervous and scared, but he silently walked toward the jet runway on the east corner of the HQ. He had good reason to be nervous. Little did he know this mission would be disastrous.

Then HE came in, Renji was so ignorant back then.

_As Renji got closer to the jet he noticed a bulky man next to the plane. He was "fixing" one of the engines, or so it seemed to Renji._

"Hey how's it going? The plane ready to go," called Renji.

The bulky man seemed surprised to be seen and jumped.  
"Your the mechanic around here right?" Renji had never seen him before, but what else was new.

"Umm..ya I sure am. Just umm..stabalizing the engine and putting in some fuel." Said the strange bulky man.

Renji had put the pieces together. That "mechanic" had a "G" tatoo on his arm too. The galaxy symbol. He was "fixing" the engine. The problem was, that when their plane went down, an engine went out first....

***

"So do you know him?" Kevin was anxious to know.

"No..I don't think so." Renji didn't want anyone else involved, all he wanted was this guy behind bars. He was near the point of being furious, but had to keep it bottled up.

"But I do know he needs to be found. He's obviously dangerous and could cause harm to people. I need to find him..very fast"

Kevin thought the sudden change in mood was odd, but overlooked it.  
"So Renji, what now?"

"I'm not sure what I'm going to do, but I sure know what you need to do." Renji said, getting his head back.

"What's that?" Kevin asked.

"You need to start training Squirtle." He explained, "I just watched you do your first battle, and it was good. But the realitly is, you can't run on a journey with teaching your pokemon just one move. You need to teach it more. Here, take this!"

"What is it?" Kevin took a book from Renji's hands.

"It's a guide book. I've read it cover to cover, so you can hang on to it for awhile. I know it's not exactly the high tech pokedex you want, but it contains alot of information, and it would help you alot!"

"Wow thanks!" Kevin smiled. "But Renji, where are you going to now?"

"I need to visit some old friends. That buff guy made me need to attend to some things. It's time I moved on though either way, after I take care of this I will move on with my journey just like I hope you will too," Said Renji.

"Well ok then, it was really great to meet you and I hope we meet up again some time." Kevin was happy to get this new guide book, it would help him out alot.

"Good Bye Renji.." Even Cara wasn't being mean.

"I'm sure I'll see you two again some day, untill then good luck and keep safe." He handed them a card with his phone number and police number. "Use this if you ever need to reach me."  
And at that all three waved and Renji set off pursuing whatever may lie ahead.

Kevin and Cara began to walk down the road of Cherrygrove city. "Cara, are you sure your head is feeling okay?" Kevin said, noticing the bump on her head.

"I'm fine big brother." Cara rolled her eyes. She stopped walking. "Kevin, tell me you're not really this stupid."

"What are you talking about?" Kevin turned to her.

"Jeez," She rolled her eyes again, "why did we just leave Renji? He's obviously hiding something! Didn't you notice how weird he was acting after buff-zilla left us?"

"Well, ya a little bit, but that guy was only trying to pscyche him out so he could get away."

"Kevin, use your head! Renji, a police officer, just happens to be in town, and that guy just happens to know him? Doesn't that strike you as a bit suspicious?"

"Cara, i trust Renji. He's a cool guy and whatever reason he had for acting weird, I'm sure it was a good one."

"I think Renji's a good guy too, but he's hiding something from us! The next time we run into him, we have to find out what it is."

"We?" Kevin smirked. "Cara, you wouldn't be asking to travel with me and Squirtle, would you now?"

"I...I.." Cara stammered nervously, "I'm just thought i'd come along so you don't hurt yourself. You know how embarassing it would be to know a guy, who couldn't complete a journey? I'm simply protecting my image."

"Whatever," Kevin took her hand, "then consider us traveling buddies. Squirtle, looks like we have someone new with us from now on."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cheered happily.

"Ugh," Cara pulled her hand away. "Can we just get going now."

"Sure....but to where?"

"It's almost funny how dumb you are." Cara snatched the guide book from Kevin's hands. "Renji said you needed to train more, so I think we need to find some good training grounds. Let's travel North to Route 30. That should be good."

"Okay, come on Squirtle!" They began to walk, Squirtle trotting happily beside them. Kevin began to make conversation, "So Cara, how were you able to convince your parents to let you go one a journey? Mine took days of begging."

"Oh me?" Cara said nervously. She quickly thought up a lie. "I....um...I just told them that it was really what I wanted to do. I even through a little tantrum. Pathetic huh?"

"Haha," He laughed a little. "My mom was against the whole thing at first, but now I think she trust me a little bit more. But she still misses me. You think your family misses you?"

"Yea...especially my little brother Joey," She said sadly. They had just come to the edge of town when they heard something jump out of the bushes. They quickly turned around to see a small boy, with blue shorts, a yellow t-shirt, and blue baseball cap jump out.

"Hi big sis!" He smiled.

"JOEY??!" Cara exclaimed.


	6. Joey Brings the truth

"Wow, talk about ironic." Kevin itched his head looking at the little boy. Cara bent down to him.

"Joey, what on earth are you doing here?" She said taking a look around, "Oh no, are mom and dad with you too?"

"Uh-uh" Joey shook his head. "When I found out you left, I decided I wanted to go on a pokemon journey too. I followed you all the way from home. Isn't that cool?"

"You've been following me this whole time?" Cara was astounded.

"Well, only since this morning." He explained, "All the other time I got to play with some pokemon. Then this morning i got to this place and found you. I wanted to say hi to you, but then you ran away again, and I lost you in this big crowd of people. But I'm glad I found you now big sister." He gave her a big hug.

"Joey..." Cara couldn't help but smiled. "I'm glad to see you too. But traveling without an adult like that was really dangerous. You know as well as I do that you're not allowed to go on a journey."

"Well neither are you, but you went anyway." Joey whined.

"Woah, what?" Kevin exclaimed. He turned to Cara, "Cara, what is he talking about?"

"Uh..hehheh, nothing." Cara quickly covered Joey's mouth. "Excuse us for a second!"

"Mmmmm-mm" Joey mumbled with his mouth covered up, as Cara carried him to the side. She uncovered his mouth. "Ouch, that hurt!"

"I'm sorry Joey," Cara whispered, "but you have to go back home now!"

"What!??" Joey screamed.

"Shhh, keep your voice down." Cara shushed him, "Listen, if you're here, that means Mom and Dad won't be far behind, and if they find you they'll find me, and I don't want them to find me because if they find me they'll make me come back home, and I can't have that happening."

"So, you mean you don't like me?" Joey whimpered.

"Joey, I love you bro," Cara patted his back, "But this journey means alot to me. So, I'm sending you back home."

"No! You better let me stay!" Joey demanded, crossing arms.

"Or what?" Cara rolled her eyes.

"O-or I'll tell that boy over there that you ran away from home!"

"W-what? You wouldn't!"

"Uh-huh! Let me stay or I'll do it right now!"

"Grr, fine!" Cara pulled out the guide book, flipping through it. She found a page. "Aha! Kevin and I will walk you to Violet City. That's a one week journey, and there's a train there. Once we get there, you get on the train, go home, and you don't tell mom or dad a word about this. Deal?"

"Yay! Deal! We're going on a journey, we're going on a journey!" Joey skipped around singing.

"This is going to be a long week." Cara sighed.

Kevin stood waiting with Squirtle. He was watching the two of them whispering to each other. It seemed a bit weird. "What's going on with those guys Squirtle?"

"Squirtle squirt!" Squirtle shrugged. Suddenly, they saw Joey skipping around happily, and coming towards them. Cara followed. She walked up to Kevin, grabbing Joey's hand.

"Kevin," She half smiled, "I'd like you to officially meet my little brother Joey."

"Hi Joey," Kevin smiled, "My name is Kevin."

"Hi Kevin!" Joey smiled back.

"Joey's going to be traveling with us for a little bit..." Said Cara.

"Oh, really?" Kevin itched his head confused.

"Yep, I sure am!" Joey let go of Cara's hand. "And it's going to be awesome! We'll get to camp out under the stars, play with pokemon, sing songs, and I get to see real pokemon battles because we're going on journey! We're going on a journey, a journey, a journey! We're going on a journey, for ONE WHOLE WEEKK!"

"Squirtle squirtle squirtle!" Squirtle skipped along with Joey, joining in on the song.

"Err..Cara, can I talk to you for a second?" Kevin signaled to her to come closer. Cara walked up to him, letting Squirtle and Joey continue singing. "Cara, you can't just go around recruiting traveling members. This could be dangerous. He's just a little kid."

"Exactly," Cara explained, "a little kid who would never let it down if we didn't let him tag along for a little bit. Look, I promise you, its just going to be for a little while. There's a city ahead that has a train station. Once we get there we'll put him on one, he'll go home and we can keep moving."

"Hmmm," Kevin looked at her suspiciously, "No offense Cara, but you don't seem like the type of girl who gives free candy to little children. Why are you really doing this?"

"You obviously don't know me that well!" Cara scowled, "Look, you and your little Squirtle don't have to follow me and my little brother if you don't want to. We can find our way ourselves."

"No, i'll go with you." Kevin shook his head clear. "I'm sorry Cara."

"Whatever," Cara rolled her eyes, than walked back over to Joey. Kevin followed. Joey ran up to Cara with Squirtle beside him.

"Oohh, Cara, is this your pokemon?" He said excitedly, "It's the coolest one ever! I'm so glad you got a cool pokemon."

"Actuallly," Cara pulled out her poke-ball. "That one's not mine. This one is, Chikorita, I choose you!"

"Chiko!" Chikorita appeared from a flash of light.

"See, this is my pokemon Chikorita." Cara picked Chikorita up. "Isn't it cool?"

"Nahh," Joey waved his hand, "This one's much cooler. Why didn't you pick this one sis?"

"Because there was only one, and the Professor gave it to me." Kevin picked up Squirtle, "This pokemon's name is Squirtle."

"Cool!" Joey stroked his hand on Squirtle's head excitedly, "You really know how to pick good pokemon. Hi Squirtle, I'm Joey!"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle rubbed it's head under Joey's chin happily. Joey giggled.

"Hmph, I don't see what's so great about Squirtle." Cara muttered, "You're just as cool, Chikorita."

"Chiko.." Chikorita's head went down in shame.

"Alright guys," Cara walked up to them, "We've got alot of traveling to do. And if you don't mind, I'd like to actually get somewhere before it gets dark. Let's get moving!"

"Yay!" Joey jumped for joy, "We're going on a journey, a journey, a journey! We're going on a journey for one whole week! For one whole week, for one whole week, for one whole week, for one whole week! We're going on a journey for one whole week! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!"

Joey led the way down the path singing and skipping, with Squirtle behind him.

"A journey! Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!" An hour had passsed, and Joey was still singing his happy traveling song. Cara was covering her ears, as Kevin thought he would explode if he heard the word "journey" in a melodic tune ever again. Even Squirtle was dragging behind now. Joey was about to start another verse when Cara grabbed, "We're goin-"

"Joey!" Cara quickly interupted him. "Not that that wasn't really nice, if not incredibly long, but why don't we talk about something else for awhile."

"Like what?" Joey asked.

"Like uh...like truth or dare!" She said, "You love that game."

"Oooohh, okay!" Joey said excitedly, "Kevin, you go first!"

"Alright, truth or dare Joey?" Kevin asked.

"Dare!" He said.

"Alright, I dare you to....ha! I dare you to hold your breath for one whole minute(scandalous, i kno)"

"Alright!" Joey took in a deep breath. His mouth puffed up as he held in the air. His face began to turn purple, but soon he let it out with a sigh. "Ha! That was a minute and a half!"

"Wait a go Kevin, trying to kill my brother?" Cara said sarcastically.

"Not my fault that the kid's got guts." Kevin said, "What about you Cara?"

"What about me?"

"Truth or dare?" Joey asked her.

"Ugh, truth I guess." Cara shrugged.

"Okay, is it true that..." Joey thought, "Is it true that you're still afraid of the dark, and have to sleep with the light on. Oh, and you won't go to sleep without your teddy bear 'Mr. Cubby Chubs?'

"JOEY!" Cara exclaimed. She couldn't believe Joey just said that out loud in front of Kevin.

"Hahahaha!" Kevin laughed, "Well, is it true Cara. If you lie you're going to have to do an even worse dare."

"Yes," She said nervously, "I mean no, i mean, ARGH! We're not playing this game anymore. It's stupid anyway."

"But Kevin never got a dare or truth!" Joey whined.

"I said enough!" Cara finally demanded. Everyone got quiet, and began walking down the road silently. Joey softly hummed his song to himself. He then broke the silence with a question.

"So, Kevin, are you going to be a pokemon trainer?" He asked.

"Not sure," Kevin thought. He looked down at Squirtle, "First I just want to get to know my Squirtle a bit more. Then I'll decide."

"Cool!" He smiled, "So Cara, is Kevin your boyfriend?"

"WHATTTT!?" Both Cara and Kevin screamed in shock.

"Come on, you can tell me. I won't tell anyone, I promise!" He pleaded.

"Joey, shut up!" Cara said angrily.

"Oh, Kevin I got your dare now!" He said, "I dare you to kiss Cara!"

"THHAAAATTTSSS ITT!!!" Cara screamed enraged. "Joey, if I hear another word coming from that little annoying mouth of yours, your not going to be around long enough to see what happens afterwards." Joey backed up in fear. He tried to get a word out, but she just kept screaming. "You've barely been here an hour and you've managed to embarass me beyond belief. You're not being funny, you're being a pest!"

"Grr," Joey's eyes filled up with water. He was getting angry. He turned to Kevin "GUESS WHAT KEVIN? CARA'S NOT ALOWWED TO BE ON A POKEMON JOURNEY, AND SHE RAN AWAY FROM HOME WITHOUT TELLING ANYBODY! IN FACT, THE ONLY REASON SHE'S LETTING ME COME WITH YOU GUYS IS BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW!"

"W-what?" Kevin turned to Cara.

"Joey!" Cara gasped. "J-JUST TURN AROUND AND GO HOME NOW JOEY! I HATE YOU!"

"Cara, you don't mean that!" Kevin tried to sympathize.

"Please, just leave me alone Kevin." She turned around and ran away in sobs.

"Fine!" Joey screamed at her. "I hate you more!" He folded, his arms and sat down stubbornly. What was Kevin going to do?

Kevin sat thinking what to do next. Cara was over sitting on a rock, while Joey was sitting cross armed and cross legged on the ground. It had only been one day and it already felt like he'd been through everything possible. "Squirtle, what should we do? It's getting late, and I can't just abandoned them. I know, I'll go talk to Cara, while you go cheer Joey up."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle gave Kevin thumbs up. The two parted ways as Squirtle waddled over to Joey. It tapped him on his shoulder. "Squirtle squirt!"

"Huh?" Joey looked up to see the blue pokemon. "Oh, hi Squirtle."

"Squirt!" It waved smiling.

"Squirtle, why is Cara so mad at me?" He sighed, "I was only trying to have fun. I know she didn't want me around so I was trying to act cool, but I guess I just ended up making a mess out of things."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle patted him on his back. It then got in front of it's face, and made it's eyes crossed. This made Joey smiled.

"Hahaha," He laughed, "You're funny Squirtle."

Meanwhile, Kevin walked over to Cara who was sitting on a big rock, watching the sunset. She was so deep in thought that she barely even heard Kevin walk up to her. "Hey Cara," Kevin said, "How are you doing?"

"Like I just want this nightmare to be over." She grumbled.

"Cara," Kevin continued, "What's going on here? I know this isn't exactly the most comfortable situation for you, but come on. You ran away from home?"

"I know," She sighed, "It was stupid and idiotic, and every bit as dangerous as what Joey did. But, you've seen the way my parents act. If I had brought up the whole "journey" topic they'd probably lock me in the attic. When I heard about Professor Elm coming back to New Bark town, i don't know...It was like this energy went through me that just wouldn't let me stay home. Once I went to his lab, things just kind of spun out of control. Next thing I know I'm sitting an entirely new city with a bag packed and a pokemon in my lap."

"Okay, well why couldn't you tell me about it." Kevin asked.

"Kevin, come on," Cara rolled her eyes again, "you're not stupid. You know me. Sometimes my ego gets the better of me. I thought if I told you, you'd start thinking down on me. I mean come on, your mom allowed you to go by yourself. I had to run away from home. Kind of pathetic right?"

"Cara, I would never think of you like that. I couldn't. I mean, you're just such a cool girl. It's like you never have any worries, and you never let other people intimidate you. You're funny, and smart, a little arrogant, but that's besides the point."

"Shut up," Cara teased.

"Haha," Kevin laughed. "And earlier today, when I was so scared, you stood by me the whole time. I could never ask for a better friend than that."

"Woah, friends?" Cara teased more, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves here."

"Sorry, I'll be sure to take the tempo down." Kevin rolled his eyes. "Seriously Cara, I think you need to forgive your brother. He's just a little kid, and he only wants the same thing as you do. And thats to travel."

"Ugh, you're never going to let this down are you?"

"You can pretty much count on that."

"Fine, whatever. But you have to stay here." Cara got off of her rock and began to walk over to Joey. He was still playing with Squirtle and laughing. When he saw his sister his smile turned into a frown. "Don't worry I'm not going to bite...yet.."

"What do you want?" He mumbled, as Squirtle waddled away.

"What do I want?" Cara repeated the question, thinking hard. "Let's see, yesterday I **wanted** to run away from home, this morning I **wanted** to see you again, about 3 hours ago I **wanted** you to leave, and an hour ago I **wanted** to strangle you. And now, now I **want** to say I'm sorry." Joey looked up when he heard this, "Ya I know, bit of a surprise hearing that from stubborn Cara, but I mean it Joe. I yelled at you and you didn't deserve that."

"Thanks Cara!" Joey smiled.

"Don't get all bubbly on me just yet," Cara's face turned serious. "We still have to talk about that little secret spill you pulled back there. I specifically asked you not to tell and you did it anyway. Would you mind sharing why you would do something like that?"

"I'm sorry Cara," Joey sighed, "I wanted you guys to like me so I made alot of jokes. Then when you yelled at me I got so angry that I couldn't help it. I guess I just wanted to get back at you for it."

"Well, revenge is supposedly sweet. How did it taste?"

"Really disgusting." Joey said. Both of them laughed. "Does this mean I have to go home."

"I guess so..." Cara said hesitantly.

"In one week," A voice said from behind the both of them. It was Kevin, with Squirtle in his arms, "like we promised."

"Is eaves dropping like a hobby of yours?" Cara said sarcastically.

"IS breaking promises a habit of yours?" Kevin retorted slyly. "Joey, you're a cool little kid. You just have to learn, embarrassing people isn't the only way to make people laugh. Okay?"

"Okay, I understand." Joey nodded. "Then lets get on the road again!"

"Actually, its getting kind of dark." Cara said looking around. "I think it'd be better if we just set up a camp for the night."

"Yay!" Joey said, "This is going to be awesome! We can toast marshmallows, make little pictures with the stars in the air. Even tell scary stories! This is going to be the best journey ever! We're going on a journey!"

Kevin and Cara watched as Joey skipped happily and joyously, anticipating the journey ahead. It was going to be a long week.


	7. Training Pains

It was six in the morning and the sun had just barely arrived. After a long night of telling stories and laughing, Cara and Joey were fast asleep in their sleeping bags. But, Kevin had something else in mind. "Wake up everybody!" He shouted, "Wake up!"

"This better be a nightmare," Cara grunted with her eyes squinted.

"What's going on?" Joey yawned.

"You especially have to get up!" Kevin bent down, and shook Squirtle awake. He picked it up. "Squirtle, today is the day we first begin your training. And if we really want you to do good, we need to get an early start. So come on everybody, wake up!"

"I repeat, this better be a nightmare." Cara grunted even more angry.

"Oh boy!" Joey suddenly jumped up, "I get to see a real pokemon getting trained. This is going to be the best day ever."

"Hurry up and get dressed Joey." Kevin smiled, "I found some fruit growing on the trees that we can eat for breakfast. We'll start as soon as we're done eating."

So, much to Cara's dismay, Joey and Cara got dressed for the day, as Squirtle helped Kevin set up the picnic cloth. Soon, they all gathered around eating the fruit that Kevin found. Chikorita came out to join the feast as well. "Squirtle, how do you like your food?"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cheered in delight.

"Good," Kevin laughed. He turned to Cara and Chikorita, "Cara, are you planning on doing some training with Chikorita?"

"Well, I was **planning** on sleeping in until we had to get on the road again," Cara said annoyed, "but when you're living with a boy who seems to wake up earlier then the birds, it seems to be impossible. But I guess it's good you got us up. Now we can train, and get some traveling done in one day."

"You still didn't answer the question." Said Kevin.

"Well, maybe I think Chikorita is fine the way it is," Cara retorted, "besides, why am I training it? So I can go around challenging people to pointless battles where nothing comes out of it but pain for the pokemon? No thanks."

"Now hold on a minute," Kevin stopped eating, "battles are not pointless, okay? Do you know how many pokemon leagues I've watched? Those trainers worked hard to get where they are today, and it was through hard work and training, and MEANINGFUL battles."

"Oh I'm sorry. Excuse me." Cara said sarcastically, "Let me give you a little sneak preview of your future battles. 'Squirtle use water gun, oh no squirtle got hit, now tackle, yay we knocked the other guy out. Yay!' The end. Now explain to me, where's the insight on that?"

"Battles aren't like that. They take strategy," Kevin said a bit angrier.

"Whatever," Cara laughed a bit, "What the world needs is something that shows how hard you worked with your pokemon's moves. That would actually show some effort."

"Righhhttt" Kevin rolled his eyes. "Just what we need, a pokemon beauty contest! I can see the headlines now."

"I say again, whatever." Cara stood up. "Well, I'm cleaning up camp. You guys get started on whatever it is you're doing because we're leaving no later 3:00 this afternoon. Come on Chikorita."

"Alright!" Kevin said excitedly, "Squirtle, let's start training"

"Squirt!" Squirtle nodded making it's two imaginary muscles.

Kevin and Joey walked a good distance away from camp, where there was a wide open space full of objects they might need to help train. Kevin took in a deep breath of the fresh air. He could tell this was going to be great. "So what do we do first?" Joey asked.

"Well, that's an easy one, we.."Kevin said a but unsure, "um...anyway, then we'll..uhh....but then after that we're going to...um.....i guess I kinda sorta have absolutely no idea what i'm talking about."

"Ugh," Both a Joey's and Squirle's heads went down in shame.

"But never fear." Kevin gained confidence, "I'm the trainer, and all I have to do is call out a command and everything will fall into place. Squirtle, train!"

"You're kidding right?" Joey said looking around a bit embarrassed.

"Oh man," Kevin sighed, "I guess I don't what i'm supposed to do. Just thought things would work out differently."

"I know!" Joey got an idea, reaching in his older sister's back pack. "I thought this might help, so I took Cara's back pack along. Here."

"Oh, right." Kevin said taking the book from Joey. "The guide book that Renji gave me. I bet this has a lot of information on pokemon and strategies. Let's see..." Kevin flipped through the book. "Hmm, maybe this is where we start. This page has all the moves that a pokemon can use. Now, since Squirtle's a water pokemon, it should be able to learn some water pokemon moves right?"

"Yeah," Joey pointed to a word in the book. "Teach it that one."

"Bubble beam?" Kevin read the definition out loud, "'An attack used by water pokemon, that hurdles a series of powerful bubbles at the target. Usually through the mouth of the pokemon.' That seems do-able."

"Yay!" Joey cheered turning to Squirtle, "Squirtle, we're going to teach you a really cool move. Are you excited?"

"Squirtle! Squirtle! Squirt!" Squirtle cheered showing yes.

"That's great." Kevin smiled, "But first I think we need to warm ourselves up. Jumping jacks everyone. And 1 and 2 and 3 and 4,"

"And 5, and 6, and 7, and 8." Joey joined in the excercise.

"Squirtle,Squirt,squritle, squirt!" Squirtle did some jumping jacks as well.

"Now bend down to your toes." Kevin said reaching down to his sneakers. Joey and Squirtle did the same. "Yeah, you're doing great. Now let's run some laps."

Meanwhile, Cara was finishing up folding the blankets, as she watched the three warming up. She rolled her eyes at how silly they looked. "Man," Cara scoffed, "Don't those guys look like idiots Chikorita."

"Chiko!" Chikorita giggled. "Chiko?"

"Huh?" Cara and Chikorita looked up in the sky as they felt the wind blow past them. "Feels nice doesn't it?" Cara smiled. She then looked up, seeing a bundle of leaves blowing in the breeze, in a unique style and pattern. "Woah, that looks really nice. It's like the leaves are dancing."

"Chiko!"

"I know." Cara suddenly got an idea. "Chikorita, try using razor leaf."

"Chiko!" Chikorita shot out a series of bladed leaves out of it's back. The leaves scattered everywhere through the air. Cara frowned a little bit.

"Hmm," She thought, "Chikorita, you think you could do that again, but this time with a little bit more concentration. Try shooting the leaves out one by one."

"Chiko!" Chikorita tried again, this time going a bit slower. The leaves came out, but this time so seperated you could barely tell they were coming from the same directions.

"Alright, this is going to need some work." Cara put down her things and bent down to Chikorita

"Alright," Kevin panted, "I think we've done enough warming up. What do you think Joey?" Joey did not answer. He simply gave a thumbs up to Kevin as he fell to the ground in tiresome. "Alright Squirtle. I think before we try a new move, we should review the move that you already know." Kevin walked over to a rock, about the size of Squirtle. "Let's try this. Pretend this rock is your opponent, and use tackle on it. Okay?"

"Squirt!" Squirtle nodded.

"Okay, Squirtle, use tackle now!" Kevin shouted a command.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle jumped up into the air, and came down onto the rock. The rock was barely dented, yet Squirtle was in pain. it was about to cry.

"Don't cry Squirtle," Kevin sympathized, "try going a little bit higher in the air this time."

"Squirt!" Squirtle sniffed up it's tears and tried once more. Though this time jumping higher in the air, Squirtle still failed to come down on the rock with enough force to make more than a dent on it. Squirtle really wanted to cry.

"Hey, how about this." Kevin smiled lightly at Squirtle's face. He picked Squirtle up and took him further away from the rock and sat it down. "Hey, do you remember yesterday, when you were running away from that machop? Well here's the deal. I want you to pretend like that's happening again, and run straight at that rock. When the time comes, jump as high as you can, and then land straight on it. Got it?"

"Squirtle," Squirtle nodded with tears still in it's eyes. Kevin walked back to the sidelines with Joey.

"I don't get." Joey said, "What are you going to do?"

"When Squirtle was battling back in Cherrygrove city," Kevin explained, "I noticed something. It was running super fast, without even getting tired. I'm not sure, but I remember my dad telling me that pokemon all have different personalities. Strengths and weaknesses that make them who they are. I'm willing to bet that Squirtle's greatest strength is it's speed."

"Woah, that's cool!" Joey said excitedly.

"Alright, now Squirtle!" Kevin commanded.

"Squuuiirttlle!" Squirtle charged at an intense speed at the rock. When it was barely a foot away, it jumped high in the air, then came down, not only making more than a dent in the rock, but smashing it into tiny pieces. Squirtle barely felt it.

"Ha! Wait a go Squirtle!" Kevin wooted.

"Hooray! Hooray!" Joey cheered along. They both ran up to it. Squirtle jumped into Kevin's arms.

"That was really good." Kevin smiled, "Now, it's time for you to learn bubble beam. I just wonder how we're going to do that?"

"Oh, I have an idea." Joey began to turn around, "In the meantime, you should show Squirtle how bubble beam is supposed to look."

"Ok," Kevin waved, unsure of what Joey was planning to do. He turned to Squirtle. "Okay Squirtle. I'm pretty sure I saw a water pokemon use this move in a competition on tv once. It looked like this." Kevin stood on his toes, and began blowing air out of his mouth while making gurgling sound. "See. Now you try."

"Squir," Squirtle nodded, then did the same.

"That was good, but try to make the gurgling sounds for more of an effect." Kevin said repeating the same thing. Squirtle tried once more, making it look even better. "That's really good. Keep going." Soon, Joey returned with his hands behind his back.

"I got two things for Squirtle," He said proudly. He pulled out his right hand, and in it sat a pink bottle. "These are my blowing bubbles. I wanted to do something on my way to meet up with my sisters so I took these before I left home. If Squirtle sees us blowing these, it'll probably get the idea."

"That's a great idea Joey," Kevin said taking the bottle away. He dipped the blowing wand into the bottle, then took it out and began blowing, making a bundle of bubbles flow through the air. Squirtle's face lit up when it saw this. "See Squirtle. You try. Take the wand, and blow through the hole."

"Squirtle," Squirtle looked at the bottle of bubbles curiously. It then took it, and blew. Bubbles flew through the air once again. Squirtle got really excited and started blowing more.

"That's great Squirtle, slow down a little bit though." Kevin said hesitantly. But Squirtle did not slow down, it continued to blow more and more until there was no more bubble liquid in the bottle. Squirtle through the bottle, and began to cry. Kevin picked it up, "Shh, it's okay Squirtle. Joey, go get some more bubbles and quick!"

"I can't," Said Joey, "That was my only bottle. I used most of it when I was playing around yesterday."

"Aw man," Kevin whined still nursing Squirtle, "Now what are we supposed to do."

"Don't worry I have a plan b!" Joey smiled slyly putting out his hands. "Give me Squirtle." Kevin hesitantly handed Squirtle over. "Now open wide Squirtle." Squirtle opened it's mouth, as Joey pulled out a bar of soap, and stuffed it down Squirtle's throat. Squirtle couldn't help but swallow.

"WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU DOING!" Kevin exclaimed, quickly grabbing Squirtle away.

"Squirtle needs to make bubbles." Joey smiled proudly. "and since soap makes bubbles it'll work perfectly."

"No Joey," Kevin shook his head, making sure Squirtle was ok, "People aren't supposed to eat soap, and neither are pokemon."

"But it was supposed to be a perfect plan." Joey whined.

"I know you meant to help but," Kevin suddenly looked down at Squirtle.

"Squir.." It moaned, as it's eyes glazed over, and it's face turned green.

"Oh no, Squirtle's getting sick. We have to help it."

Kevin and Joey ran back to camp as fast as they could. Cara was still working with Chikorita when they arrived. She looked surprised to see them. "What are you guys doing back so early?" She looked at her watch, "I said 3, and it's 1 now. You **do** know how to tell time right?"

"Haha, very funny." Kevin said sarcastically, "In case you haven't noticed I have a bit of a problem here. Squirtle's not doing so well."

"You can say that again," Cara said taking a look at Squirtle's face. "What happened? It looks like someone took a bucket of paint and splashed on the poor thing."

"Well, it sort of, accidentally ate some soap..." Kevin said guiltily.

"You too knuckleheads fed Squirtle soap?" Cara exclaimed.

"No, I did it." Joey sighed, "It's not Kevin's fault. I made Squirtle eat it, and now it may be in big trouble. I'm sorry."

"Just be glad there's more soap in my backpack." Said Cara.

"Hello!" Kevin interupted, "Can we please focus on the big problem here? Squirtle is sick, and none of us have any idea of how to help it. What are we supposed to do."

"We're miles away from Violet city," Cara thought out loud, "and by the time we're hours away from Cherrygrove City. By the time we find a pokemon center it might be too late."

"This all my fault," Joey sulked.

"It's alright Joey," Kevin patted him on the back, "There's no way you could've known. I just wish there was something we could do for Squirtle."

"Where's the guide book?" Cara asked, looking around for it.

"Here it is," Kevin handed it to her, "But what do you need it for now?"

"There has to be something in here about sick pokemon," Cara flipped through the book. "Aha! Here's a list of healing remedies. This one should be perfect, for pokemon with a belly ache. We'll need to split up to find this stuff. Joey, go around the bushes and get all the oran berries you can find. Chikorita and I will try and find this Sillisweed plant stuff, and Kevin, you should stay here with Squirtle, get a bowl and fill it up with water. There should be one in my bag."

"Okay!" Kevin nodded.

"Don't worry sis, I'll come back with hundreds of oran berries. No, thousands, no millions, even better BILLI-"

"Joey, just hurry up." Cara interupted him.

"Right!" He nodded, turning around and running the other way. Cara did the same in the other direction. Kevin walked over to Cara's bag, and began looking through it. He found a small bowl that he could use.

"Good," He said pulling it out, "Don't worry Squirtle! I'm going to find some nice water for you, and you'll be feeling better in no time."

"Squir..." Squirtle moaned, half awake. Kevin walked to the edge of the route, where there was a stream of water. Probably connected to the one that he and Squirtle had fallen into two nights before. Kevin took the bowl, and ran it under the water, filling it almost to the top. He then returned to camp and waited for the others.

Meanwhile, Joey was searching high and low for any signs of oran berries. He looked on every leaf, branch, and limb he could find, but they were nowhere in sight. He was beginning to lose hope. "This stinks!" He grunted, folding his arms and sinking to the ground. "First I got Squirtle sick, and now I can't find any darn oran berries to help it. I hate this. Huh?" Joey looked up to see a small, round, blue berry hanging on a bush limb right in front of him.

"Hooray!" He cheered, running up to the berry and grabbing it. He pulled on it, but something pulled it right back. "Hey! Give it back!" He said pulling on the berry again. The same thing happened. Joey got up once again, and tugged on the berry, this time not letting go. "Let it go! It's mine, it's mine, it's mine! Give it nowww!" Finally the berry came loose, knocking Joey to the ground and revealing what was on the other side. It was a houndour, who was looking very hungy. It growled at Joey.

"What kind of pokemon are you?" He asked curiously. The houndour growled even more. "Well I don't care. My friend is sick, and i'm taking the berry to it. Goodbye!"

"Howwwlll!" The houndour began to howl. As Joey began to turn around, he heard sounds of fast running feet. Joey quickly turned around to see a larger pack of Houndour behind the original. They were all growling at Joey angrily.

"L-l-leave me alone." He said nervously, backing up. "I-i'm warning you. If you don't-"

"Hou!" The original houndour pounced at Joey.

"WAHHHHH!!!! HELP!" Joey screamed running the other way as fast as he could.

Not much further away, Cara was with Chikorita trying to find the rare plant known as Sillisweed. Down on her knees, she searched. "The book says that Sillisweed is found in shady places." She said, "This should be a perfect spot then right?"

"Chiko chi," Chikorita agreed. Suddenly, both Cara and Chikorita heard a sound coming through the bushes. Both quickly turned around to see Joey running for his life. Cara quickly grabbed him.

"Joey, what the heck are you doing?" She said, "why are you making so much noise?"

"I can't explain I gotta get going before the dogs get me!" He said frantically.

"Dogs? What do-" Cara was interupted by the sound of Houndour barking and running at a high speed. They were coming right for both of them.

"See, I told ya! Come on!" Joey grabbed his sisters hand, and pulled her away. Chikorita followed. All of them ran as fast as their legs could carry them. Doging tree branch after tree branch, bush after bush until they finally made it to their campsite, where Kevin was still sitting nursing Squirtle.

"You're here!" Kevin said excitedly. "You got the stuff right?"

"We got a little side tracked." Cara said running behind Kevin.

"Ya, big time!" Joey said running beside Cara.

"What are you two doing?" Kevin said anxiously, "Stop playing around. We need to give Squirtle the remedy and fast. What's wrong with you?"

"That!" They both said, pointing to the houndour who were growling less than 10 feet away from Kevin.

"WAHHH! WHAT ARE YOU HIDING BEHIND ME FOR?" He screamed, looking for somewhere to hide.

"Well you're the big macho pokemon trainer!" Cara said, "show us some skills!"

"In case you haven't noticed, i'm at a bit of a disadvantage." He retorted sarcastically. "What are a bunch of houndour doing chasing you guys anyway?"

"The one in the front tried to take my berry." Joey said pointing an accusing finger.

"Great. So you ticked it off?" Cara rolled her eyes.

"Did not!" Joey retorted.

"Guys focus!" Kevin shouted. He turned to the houndour nervously. "Look, my friend didn't mean to bother you guys. We just need that berry for our friend Squirtle. See! I'm sorry, but i'm sure there's plenty of berries for you elsewhere around here, right?"

"HOUU!" The all barked ferociously, now beginning to inch closer.

"I don't think they're buying it Kevin." Cara said ducking behind his shoulder. "We're not exactly in any position to battle either. Squirtle's basically and a grass pokemon couldn't stand a chance against all these fire-types." The Houndour began to move even closer.

"Squir..." Squirtle slowly began opening it's eyes, trying to regain strength

"**Now hold on a second**!" Kevin said as firmly as possible. "You guys just need to calm down. I bet we could come to an understanding, if you just cool it with the all the barking and growling."

"Hou!" All the Houndour began charging without warning.

"Wahhhh." Joey screamed.

"This is it," Winced Cara.

"SOMEBODY HELP!" Kevin blurted out. Suddenly, Squirtle bounced out of Kevin's arms and into the air. Kevin looked up at Squirtle, as it took in a deep breath, and began to blow out. An amazing series of bubbles emerged from Squirtle's mouth. They pelted the Houndour like bullets.

"Squuirtt-tle-tle-tle!" Squirtle grunted as it shot out as many bubbles as it could. It finally closed it's mouth and landed on it's feet. The group of Houdour began to wimper of the ground.

"Was that..." Kevin said in disbelief, "was that bubble beam?"

"Atta boy Squirtle!" Joey cheered. All the houndour quickly got up and retreated into the trees.

"That's right! And don't let us catch you here again!" Cara called after them. Chikorita barked after them as well. Kevin quickly ran to Squirtle and picked it up.

"Squirte..." He began, "What did you...h-how did you...when did you..."

"Squirt!" Squirtle interupted him with a smile.

"Haha, and it looks like you're feeling better to." Kevin gave Squirtle a hug. "I don't know how it happened, but I don't even care. I'm just so glad!"

"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle hugged him back.

"Weird," Cara said, "Squirtle didn't even need any medicine, and it's feeling so great right now. How is that even possible?"

"I don't know." Kevin shrugged, "Maybe the soap just passed through it's system."

"Or maybe that bubble beam was Squirtle trying to get it out of it's system." She said, "It did look kind of forced."

"So wait a minute." Kevin stood up, "You mean, in a way, Joey's plan actually worked?"

"I guess, half and half, yea!" Cara shrugged.

"Hooray! Hooray! I'm a genious! A genious! Yay!" Joey cheered, jumping up and down.

So now, the gang has learned a new lesson. Some plans, no matter how strange, can sometimes work out in their own way. Now knowing a new move, Kevin, Squirtle, and their friends continue on their way to Violet City.


	8. Hoot's in the forest?

Today, Kevin, Cara, and her little brother Joey are well on their way to Violet City. After a good night's rest, the three are ready for a day full of traveling. Now, they have just passed into route 31, where the grass is taller, and the forest is thicker.

"Are you positive this is the right way?" Cara asked, with Joey glued to the back of her leg.

"For the the fifth time, yes." Kevin answered a bit annoyed, "I studied the map in the guide book, back and forth before we left this morning. By now I should know this forest like the back of my hand."

"Are you kidding me?" Cara exasperated, looking around her "You'd need a full running poke-nav to understand this big heap of green. I swear it's like constantly night time in here."

"Awww, do you need a nightlight?" Kevin taunted. Cara made a sour frown. Joey tugged on Cara's pant leg.

"I heard something!" He said frightingly.

"Where?" Cara asked turning to him.

"Over there in the bush" He pointed. The three walked over to the bush. Kevin began rustling through it.

"Joey, you know alot of pokemon live out here in the forest," Cara explained, "I know it may seem scary but you don't have to be scared."

"But what if it's really big and scary like the houndour we saw yesterday?" He asked.

"Well, then in that case, be terrified." Cara answered.

"There's nothing in this bush Joey." Kevin turned to them. Squrtle moved closer to the bush to get a btter look. "You probably just heard the wind blowing through the forest."

"Uh-uh," Joeyshook his head stubbornly, "I didn't feel any wind, and I'm absolutely positively surely sure that I heard something coming from that bush."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle called. All three turned to it.

"Squirtle, what's wrong?" Kevin asked, taking a closer look into the bush with Joey and Cara. Suddenly, a blur of brown shot out at them. "WAH!" They all screamed.

"Okay, if 'nothing' was in that bush, than would you mind explaining what that was?" Cara asked accusingly.

"It's hiding behind the tree over there!" Joey pointed to a tree behind them. The three walked up, and bent down next to the tree. Kevin began to whisper to his friends.

"Okay, you guys go around that end, and I'll take this end." He whispered, "It'll never get away that way. On the count of three, one...two...three!"

"Gotcha!" They all shouted popping onto the other side of the tree, surrounding the strange creature that was lying against the tree. It was some kind of bird pokemon. It was short, round, had big red eyes, and was looking very scared. Kevin quickly pulled out the guide book. "I've seen this pokemon before. What was it's name again, aha! It's a Hoothoot, and it's a bird pokemon. It says here that it has a special organ inside of it that can sense the earths rotations. It's like this thing can tell the future."

"That's cool! So maybe it can use psychic attacks." Said Cara.

"It doesn't say it's a psychic pokemon though." Kevin continued to flip through the guide book. Cara rolled her eyes at him.

"Please, you rely to much on that book. There are other ways to tell things about a pokemon you know." She bent down and started to reach out for Hoothoot. Suddenly, the pokemon's red eye's began to glow bright red just as Cara was looking straight at them. All three quickly jumped back in fear, as Hoothoot made a quick escape. Cara's eyes became very wide."

"Cara, why are you looking at me like that?" Joey backed up in fear, as Cara moved closer to him.

"Oh my gosh." Cara said astounded, "Joey, your face is covered with..with bugs!"

"WHAT?!" Joey began swatting his arms around his face. "Wait a second, I don't feel any bugs."

"I don't **see** any bugs either." Kevin turned to Cara who was turning to him. "Are you sure you're feeling alright?"

"Kevin!" She sqeeled grabbing him. "You're whole body..it's..it's...it's blowing up like a balloon. You're turning into a monster."

"Cara, what the heck are you talking about?" Kevin exclaimed. Joey rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing right.

"Gah! BOTH OF YOU JUST STAY AWAY FROM ME BEFORE YOU GIVE ME THAT CRAZY DISEASE!" She screamed, turning the other way and running for the hills.

"Sis! Come back!" Joey shouted as he, Kevin, and Squirtle all chased after her. Joey was running as fast as he could to keep up with his sister, but as time went on, all he could see was green, and he was losing sight of her. He stopped to catch his breath. "Kevin, I can't see her anymore. Kevin?" Joey looked behind him to see Kevin was nowhere in sight either. "Kevin, where are you?"

"JOEY!" Kevin called desperately through the forest running with Squirtle by his side, "JOEY! HEY CARA! WHERE ARE YOU GUYS? Aw, what's the use?"

"Squirtle..." Squirtle plopped down as Kevin did the same. Both let out a long dissapointed sigh.

"Cara and Joey could be miles away from here by now," Said Kevin, looking up at the sky, "But I don't understand, Joey and I were right behind Cara. And Joey was literally right in front of me. How in the world could we have gotten split up so easily?"

"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle shrugged.

"Oh well," Kevin sighed, "Guess this would count as our very first group split up."

"Don't worry Kevin, we didn't get split up!" A voice said from behind. Kevin and Squirtle quickly turned around to see Joey smiling behind them.

"Joey!" Kevin exclaimed. Both him and Squirtle ran towards him in happiness when suddenly, they seemed to run right through him. Kevin jumped, startled. "What the...!"

"What are you doing way over there Kevin?" Another voice said. Kevin turned around again, to see Joey, all the way on the other side, near where he was earlier.

"Uh...Joey..." Kevin itched his head confusedly, "Er...forget it." Kevin began to walk over to Joey, when suddenly he heard another voice.

"Kevin, I'm over here!" It was Joey again, on the side of Kevin.

"Huh?" Kevin turned to the second Joey. Squirtle tugged on his pant leg. The Joey on the other side of him was gone. "W-wha..? I'm so confused right now. Joey, how on earth did you just do all the houdini stuff?"

"Squir....!" Squirtle urged Kevin to turn around. Kevin did so, this time seeing three Joey's, all talking in unison.

"What are you talking about Kevin?" They all said smiling.

"O-okay Joey, this is getting a bit too weird for me." He said backing up in fear. He turned once again to see almost a dozen more Joeys, all coming towards him.

"Come on Kevin," They all said with the same happy look on their faces, "We'll find Care together."

"Squirtle!" Squirtle jumped into Kevin's arms.

"I...er...uh..." Kevin began to panic as the crazy Joeys began to surround him in all ways except for one. "**That's it, I'm getting outta here! **" He screamed, turning around and running away with Squirtle cluthced to his chest.

Meanwhile, Cara was still running for her dear life, afraid of what she thought she saw as two diseased kids. She suddenly stopped to catch her breath. She turned around to see that no one was chasing her. Only now, things were worse. She was trapped in a forest with no map. "Uh-oh," She said with fear in her voice, "K-kevin, J-joey? Are you guys out there?"

"O-okay guys, joke's over." She continued looking around her, "I'm really getting scared now..." There was no response. "Oh great. Now what am I supposed to do. I'll die alone before i get out of here. Wait a second," Cara suddenly got an idea, reaching into her pockets. "Haha, I'm never alone. Not as long as I got..."

"Chiko!" Chikorita chirped as it was thrown out of it's poke-ball.

"My good ol' buddy Chikorita." Cara smiled, bending down to her green, four legged friend. "Hey there Chikorita! How's it going?"

"Chiko! Chiko!" It chirped some more.

"Haha, listen. It seems those two knuckleheads have ditched me, so it looks like I'm going to need a traveling partner to help me get through this place. What do you say? You up for the job?"

"Chikorita!" It nodded confidently.

"Alright then," Cara stood back up, "Let's find Kevin and Joey, then hightail it out of this puke-green blanket."

"Okay, Squirtle" Kevin panted still running, "I think after we turn past this tree we'll be far enough way from...WAH!" He screamed, stopping in his tracks. Joey was standing right in front of him, though he wasn't sure if it was actually him.

"Kevin!" Joey happily hugged him, "I've been looking all over for you."

"Hold on you..you thing!" Kevin backed up quickly, "Just how am I supposed to be sure that you're the real Joey?"

"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle barked, backing it's trainer up.

"Uh..I think i'm the real Joey.." Joey thought hard. "The last time I checked I was. Let's see, now if I wasn't Joey, who would I be? Would I be Cara. Well I'm definitely not her right now. Maybe Kevin, but Kevin's standing right here."

"Nice try immitation Joey, but i'm getting rid of you now. Squirtle, tackle now!"

"Squir!" Squirtle pounced onto Joey knocking him down.

"Ouch, ow ow! Get off of me Squirtle!" Joey squirmed.

"Huh?" Kevin itched his head. "Oh no, Squirtle stop." He helped Joey to his feet. "You are the real Joey."

"Well thats good, but who else would I be?"

"I'm not sure. Earlier we ran into a bunch of Joey's. There were about a dozen of them, and they could move really really fast. But I couldn't touch them. They were like ghost or something."

"W-wha? There are ghost in this forest..?" Joey's eyes began to fill up with tears.

"Uh...now Joey, don't get upset. For all we know, I could've been seeing things."

"WAAAHH!" Joey started crying out loud. "I wanna get out of here now! And we have to find Cara now too. WAHHHH"

"SQUUUIUIIRTTLE!" Squirtle began to cry as well.

"Aw, come on guys, don't do this now. Please!" Kevin desperately tried to hush Joey, as he nursed Squirtle. "Man Cara, wherever you are I could really use your help right about now."

Speaking of Cara, she was still hiking through the forest with her small grass pokemon Chikorita. They were starting to grow tired of all the walking. "This is getting ridiculous Chikorita. If we don't find those guys soon, I don't what we're going to do."

"Chiko..chi.." Chikorita panted.

"I'm sorry chikorita. Maybe we should just stop here."

"No don't stop." A deep baratone voice said. "You must keep going to find Kevin."

"W-who said that?" Cara quickly turned around. "That wasn't you Chikorita."

"Chiko." Chikorita shook it's head.

"Then who.."

"Over here!" The voice said again.

Cara turned around to see the tree behind her with a completely different look. It had a face, and was talking. "WHHAAATT!!"

"MWAHAHAHAHAHA!" The tree laughed maniacally.

"Now hold on!" Cara said, fingers shaking, "I might've left school early, b-but I'm pretty darn sure that tree's talking defeats all the laws of nature. This is impossible."

"Well I'm talking now," The tree smirked, "And just what're you going to do about it?"

"I know, Chikorita, use razor leaf!" Cara commanded.

"Chiko!" Chikorita shot a massive amount of bladed leaves at the tree. All of a sudden, the face seemed to disappear right in front of their eyes.

"What?"

"Chiko?"

"Over here!" The same voice said. Another face was on a tree behind the two. Cara was starting to get suspicious.

"This is really weird, first with Kevin and Joey looking like monsters, and now this. I don't believe that's a coincidence." Cara began looking around, every direction to avoid the tree's face, when suddenly, she spotted high above the trees, another Hoothoot, with it's eyes glowing read. "Hoothoot? (gasp) That's it!"

"Chiko?" Chikorita looked scared and confused.

"Chikorita, don't be scared, I have a plan. Aim another razor leaf straight for those branches up there!"

"Chiko!" Chikorita immediately did as it was told, and shot the razor leaf up in the branches. The Hoothoot fell on to the ground, and the face disappeared from the tree.

"I knew it!" Cara smirked, "All this stuff was just an illusion, caused by one of Hoothoot's moves. I knew it had to be part psychic!"

"Hoot!" The Hoothoot sat up straight, it's eyes glowing red again. Fog began to cloud the forest, making it hard for Cara to see.

"Where'd all this fog come from?" Cara looked around. The Hoothoot made a run for it. "Nice try, but I'm not falling for another one of your tricks. Chikorita stay close to me, and remember, this fog isn't real!"

Joey's eyes were still filled with tears, trotting along with Kevin and Squirtle, still trying to find his sister. Not only was he worried about Cara, but he was starting to get tired now too. "Kevin," He whined, "Can we please stop now?"

"Joey, if you want to find Cara, then we can't stop until we have some clue to where she is." Kevin said looking around. Suddenly, the forest became filled with fog. Kevin could barely see in front of him. "Oh no."

"W-where did this fog come from?" Joey whimpered.

"Squirrr..."

"Calm down Joey. I'm sure the weathers just acting screwy or something."

"B-but what if the ghost is here? Huh?" Joey could hear someone screaming in the other direction. A girl. His sister. "Kevin, I hear Cara. She's screaming, for help."

"What? I don't hear anything."

"I can hear her. She needs our help. Come on." Joey sprinted towards the screaming girl.

"Hold on Joey, stay close to me!" Kevin called out desperately, as he quickly lost site of Joey. He tried to stay close to Joey's footsteps but he could barely hear them anymore.

"Joey, if you can hear me, just stop so we can talk about this."

"No! I have to help my sister! I'm coming Cara!" Joey shouted. Kevin could hear him running even faster. He had completely lost track of him now.

"No, please!" Kevin tried to call after him. There was no response. Suddenly, a red blur shot right past his face, just before someone bumped into him. "Ouch!"

"Ouch yourself!" The voice said. It was Cara.

"Cara!?"

"Kevin!" She exclaimed. She quickly stood up, Chikorita ran to Squirtle. "Where have you been. And, where's Joey."

"I've been looking for you, and I...kinda...lost Joey."

"You lost my little brother!?" Cara gripped Kevin by the collar.

"Now hold on," Kevin tried to explain desperately, "He was sure that he could hear you screaming somewhere deeper and the forest, and he just took off. Little people run fast. I couldn't catch him."

"Oh no!" Cara dropped Kevin, deep in thought.

"What's going on here Cara? Were you really screaming?"

"No, but now Joey's in more danger than before. We have to go after him."

"Heeyy!" Kevin was pulled along with Cara as she ran towards the direction that Joey ran off in.

"I'll explain on the way, but there's no time!"

Joey was running as fast he could go. He was sure that his sister needed him, and he was going to help her in anyway he could. His feet were getting tired. Soon he came to an opening in the forest. The fog began to clear, and he could see his sister tied to a tree. "Cara!"

"Joey, thank goodness you're here!" She smiled. "I was running when I fell and blacked out. Now I have no idea what's going on. Please help Joey, you're the only one who can."

"Don't worry sis. No one can hurt you now. Not even the ghost." Joey began to inch forward, when he heard to people run behind him. It was Kevin and Cara.

"Joey don't!" The Cara from behind him cried.

"CARA!???" Joey jumped in fear. "W-w-what's happening?"

"Woah, Cara, what are you doing over there tied to a tree?" Kevin exclaimed in disbelief.

"That's not me. It's just an illusion." Cara quickly tried to explain.

"Y-you are?" Joey turned to the Cara tied to the tree behind him.

"Of course I'm not." She said frightenedly, "I'm not sure what's going on here, but I bet she's the illusion. Hurry and help me so we can get out of this forest. Kevin you too!"

"Guys don't!" The other Cara demanded, "This is all an illuson done from that Hoothoot we saw earlier. In fact its probably somewhere around here right now!"

"What, you're crazy!" The Cara tied to the tree shouted. "Get ut of here you immitation Cara!"

"Immitation huh? The real Car would never get tied to a tree like that. I'm not that helpless." The Cara standing up shouted back.

"Well the real Cara would've found her brother a long time ago." The tied up Cara retorted.

"She has a point there." Said Kevin.

"WHOSE SIDE ARE YOU ON!?" Cara shouted. She turned to Chikorita. "Alright, I'll prove to you she's the fake. Chikorita, razor leaf, right at the illusion Cara!"

"Chiko!" Chikorita shot it's bladed leaves straight for the Cara tied to tree. As soon as they hit, the Cara faded away.

"Nooooo!" The Cara cried as she dissappeared.

"Woah, it was a fake. Then that means, you're my real sister!" Joey turned to Cara, and ran to hug her.

"That's right, and don't you ever scare your real sister like that again!" Cara returned the affection. "But guys, we need to get out of here before--"

"Hoot!" A blur shot down from the sky. Hoothoot was standing in front of the three, cutting off their path. It was looking very michievous, but it's eyes were no longer glowing red.

"So, you're the little trickster who's been making us go crazy all this time." Kevin shouted angrily.

"Squirtle squirt!" Squirtle barked.

"Well, now that you're here, I know exactly what to do with you, Chikori- uh-oh." Cara looked down at Chikorita, it was looking completely whiped out. "Oh no, Chikorita, you must be tired from all that running and battling before. Kevin, you're going to have to do this for me."

"What?" Kevin jumped, "But, what can I do?"

"Battle it, pull out a poke-ball, and catch the darn thing!" She said firmly.

"Catch it!? But...but I--" Kevin stammered.

"No excuses, your a trainer, and I know the Professor gave you a pokeball or two. You have to catch a pokemon at some point."

"Uh...alright!" Kevin straighthened up. "Squirtle, it's time for our first catch."

"Squirt!" Squirtle nodded. It jumped in front, ready to battle. The Hoothoot charged super fast at Squirtle.

"Squirtle, move to the side now!" Kevin shouted. Squirtle did as it was told. "Now, try to tackle it."

"Squirt!" Squirtle jumped into the air. It was about to come down on Hoothoot, when it suddenly moved. Squirtle fell on it's head. Hoothoot's eyes began to glow red.

"Those eyes. Squirtle, whatever you do, don't look at it's eyes!" Cara cried.

"Squir?" Squirtle looked over in confusion.

"Squirtle, if you look at Hoothoot's eyes, you'll be hypnotized!" Kevin cried after him. "Cover your eyes quickly."

"Squirt!" Squirtle did what it was told by covering it's eyes and turning the other way. Hoothoot flew in front of Squirtle again, and Squirtle quickly turned around. It did the same thing, Squirtle repeated it's action. The same thing happened over and over.

"You can't just keep avoiding it, you have to attack!" Cara said.

"Fine, Squirtle, I know you just learned this move, but try bubble beam!" Kevin commanded.

"Squirt!" Squirtle shot out a series of bubbles at Hoothoot. The bubbles went slow, and were all scattered, giving Hoothoot time to dodge. Squirtle continued to try to shoot it down, but the bubbles were too slow to hit.

"Man, that bubble beam is just too slow!" Kevin sighed. Hoothoot's eyes were glowing red again. "Oh no, the eyes again!"

"Wait a second," Cara took a notice to all the puddles that formed from the water of the bubble beam. "Kevin, tell Squirtle to use tackle from behind.

"What?"

"Just do it!"

"Fine, Squirtle, use tackle from behind Hoothoot!" He shouted.

"Squirt!" Squirtle nodded. It ran behind Hoothoot, and pounced onto it. It fell face forward into one of the puddles. It was forced to see the refelction of it's eyes. It was a victim to it's own attack. Hoothoot, was now confused.

"Haha great! Bubble beam!"

"Squirt!" Squirtle pelted Hoothoot down with bubblebeam.

"Alright, time to give it a try." Kevin reached into his pocket for a poke-ball and pulled it out. "Poke-ball, go!"

"Hoot!" Hoothoot cried right before the poke-ball opened and sucked it in with a red light. The ball fell to the ground and teetered back and forth. A "click" sound was heard. Hoothoot was caught.

"I...I..Can't believe it. Yah! I just caught my very first pokemon!" Kevin cheered.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cheered along with Joey.

"Well, looks like my idea worked." Cara said smugly.

"Yeah, thanks alot for the idea Cara." Kevin took a look at the poke-ball, "But I think we need to get to know our friend a little better. Come on out Hoothoot!"

"Hoot!" Hoothoot appeared from the poke-ball after a flash of light. Kevin bent down to eye level.

"I'm sorry we had to capture you Hoothoot." Kevin said, "But you were just being too bad. We couldn't let you keep doing that to people."

"Hoot.." Hoothoot looked down in shame.

"Hey, I forgive you." Cara smiled.

"Yeah, me too!" Joey smiled as well.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle waved.

"So, maybe you want to come traveling with us. We promise we'll be nice to you." Kevin assured it. Hoothoot happily flew onto his shoulder. "That's great!"

"Well, I think we should get out of this place, before anyother creepy pokemon decide to attack us." Cara said.

"Yeah! Let's keep moving!" Joey cheered.

"Alright then. Come on Squirtle!" Kevin called. Squirtle hopped into his arms, and the group continued there way onto Violet City. Now with a new friend, the future is looking brighter than ever.


	9. The fox and the houndour

Today, Kevin, Joey, and Cara are nearing even closer to the their destination, Violet City, where Joey will board the train home, and leave the trio, and force it into a duo. But for now, before starting on their way again, the gang is doing some early morning training. "Squirtle, bubble beam straight into the air!" Kevin shouts.

"Squirt!" Squirtle blows a series of scattered bubbles into the air.

"Good, Hoothoot, fly and pop every single bubble!" He commanded.

"Hoot!" Hoothoot flew straight into the bubbles, popping everyone. It landed beside Kevin.

"That was good Hoothoot. You didn't miss one this time." Kevin pet it's head. He then turned to Squirtle, "And Squirtle, your bubble beam is getting faster everytime you do it. I'm sure in a couple more tries, you'll have the move down completely."

"Squirt!" Squirtle smiled.

"Hoothoot!" Hoothoot chirped. They all looked over at Cara, who was working hard with Chikorita on something.

"Yes! We finally got it perfect!" She cheered.

"Chiko!" Chikorita did the same.

"Hey Cara, what have you guys been working on all this time?" Kevin walked over with his two pokemon. Cara looked up at him with a grin.

"You see, a couple of days ago, Chikorita and I saw these leaves blowing through the wind. It was like they were dancing. And I thought, if we could just duplicate that, we could have an awesome move. And we've finally found a way to do it. Chikorita, show Kevin and the others how its done, just like last time."

"Chikoooo" Chikorita closed it's eyes concentrating. It let out a razor leaf, but this time there was something different. The leaves came out in swirls. Like a little funnel of green, blowing through the air, making everything look like a choreography.

"No way!" Kevin stared in disbelief. "I never knew that a pokemon move, could be manipulated to look like something like that. Amazing Cara."

"See, I told you it'd be good to see how well pokemon can use their moves. I've always loved seeing pokemon doing that kind of stuff, but teaching it to your own pokemon, there's nothing like it. I just wish there was something I could do to show everyone how it was."

"Hey guys, breakfast is served." Joey called, carrying a basket of food. "I got some berries for all the pokemon to eat, and I found alot of fruit for all of us to eat."

"Good job Joe!" Cara smiled, taking out an apple and chomping out a bite. The gang set up the picnic blanket, and happily sat eating their food. The morning had been such a pleasant one. A real nice change after all the chaos they've been since they started their journey. They were half way through their meal when they heard a cry for help.

"Help, please help me!" The voice shouted. It sounded elderly, and like a females voice. Kevin, Joey, Cara, and all the pokemon quickly stood up.

"Uh-oh! Whose that?" Joey said.

"Only one way to find out!" Kevin ran towards the screaming. Joey quickly followed, as well as all the other pokemon.

"Ugh," Cara rolled her eyes, hesitantly following, "Normal people run away from screams, or go to get help, but nooo, we have to play rescue heroes ourselves don't we."

They continue to run until they arrived at a small cottage with a huge field in front of it. It was hard to see with the sun in their eyes, but they could see four dark figures, over another one. "Hey, cut that out!" Kevin shouted over. The figures suddenly stopped and sprinted away. All they looked like were four legged dark animals, running at a fast speed.

The three continued to run for the person calling for help who was now on the ground. It was an elderly woman. She had white hair and was wearing a pink dress. Kevin and Cara quickly helped her to her feet.

"Are you okay lady?" Joey asked curiously. "Why were you wrestling with those things."

"Oh no dear, I was attacked." She said weakly. "Thank goodness you children heard my cries. I don't know what I would've done."

"We're just glad we got here when we did." Kevin said. "Why would those things attack you? What were they?"

"They attacked me because they were hungry." She explained, "And I'm sure I know what they were. They must've been houndour."

"HOUNDOUR?" All three exclaimed.

"H-H-Houndour attacked you?" Joey stammered, hiding behind Cara.

"Yes," The woman continued to explain, "I came out here for a picnic breakfast. We had bacon, eggs, some biscuits and some lovely fruit. I forgot to buy the milk this week, so my husband drove on ahead to Violet City to pick some up, so he'll be back soon. I'm just glad he wasn't hurt here. Those Houndour must've gotten hungry and attacked. They took every bit of food in site."

"Those little devils!" Kevin exclaimed angrily, "They attacked an innocent lady for food?"

"Miss, how many were there?" Cara asked curiously.

"There were only three, but they were all big." She answered.

"That's what I was afraid of." Cara sat deep in thought. "The other day, there were three big Houndour and one little one. I bet they're the same ones. Looks like a group of terrorizing pokemon have moved into town."

"I wish that were true, but the reality is the Houndour hae been here for much much longer." The woman said sadly.

"Really?" Joey said in fear.

"Yes, and they scared everyone out of this town."

"Town?" Cara looked around in confusion. "Um...the houses seem a bit limited to be a town. There's only one."

"Yes, but at a time, barely a year ago this whole area was a town full of people." She continued to explain, "Then the Houndour moved in. All the people migrated to either Cherrygrove or Violet City. The town managers came buy and took the place apart. But my husband and i refused. We weren't about to let some crooks chase us out of our home."

"Well good for you." Cara nodded firmly.

"Thank you," She smiled, "But it certaintly wasn't too smart of me to come out here. I know better than that."

"NO WAY!" Kevin all most exploded, "Innocent people shouldn't be afraid to go out in broad daylight, just because some pokemon deciced to play Dr. Evil. That's just not right."

"Kevin, what are you trying to say?" Joey asked.

"I'm saying I wanna find these good for nothing dogs and get them to stop all this for good!" He answered firmly.

"Well, that certaintly is brave of you son." The woman nodded. "My name Lily. Lily Jane."

"Nice to meet you." Cara smiled, "I'm Cara, that's my little brother Joey, and the loud one is Kevin. These are all of our pokemon."

"Nice to meet you all." Lily smiled.

"I'd love to stay and talk, but I think we need to get back to camp and figure out what we're going to do about the Houndour." Kevin began to turn around and walk back to camp.

"Alright, it was nice meeting you. Come on Joey." Cara took Joey's hand. Joey looked back at Lily Jane.

"Wait!" He quickly ran back to her. "Mrs. Jane, if your husbands not here, you could be in danger. I don't want anything to happen to you. Please, can you come with us?"

"Well bless your little soul youngster." Lily smiled, "If it's not too much of a burden, I think I would feel a bit more comfortable with people who have pokemon to protect them."

"It's fine." Cara smiled back, "We'd love to help." So they all made their way back to camp. The woman walked ahead next to Kevin. Cara turned to Joey. "That was very nice of you Joey. I'm proud of you."

"I just wanted to her to be safe. Thats all." Joey shrugged. They finally arrived at camp to get a rude surprise.

"SQUUUIIRTTTLE!" Squirtle screamed in agony. The food was gone.

"You're joking!" Cara quickly ran to picnic blanket that was now ripped up. Every single piece of fruit and berry was gone. "No no no no! I didn't even get a bite of the pineapple, and that's my favorite part. WHOEVER DID THIS YOU'RE SOOO GOING TO PAY!"

"It's obvious who did it." Lily picked up a piece of the blanket. "These rips in your blanket were made by claws. After you scared those Houndour away, they must've come here to get some desert."

"Desert? Those little--" Kevin was getting so mad, he didn't know what to do or say. "Don't they have any respect for other peoples stuff."

"I worked hard to pick all that fruit." Joey folded his arms stubbornly.

"Well I know what to do next." Kevin stood looking into the trees. "Those Houndour left a bunch of footprints. If we follow them, I bet it'll lead us right to them."

"Hold on," Cara said looking into the tree as well, "I thought we agreed we would travel around the trees so we don't end up with another one of yesterdays inncidents. It's so easy to get lost in there. Do you really want to walk back into that?"

"If it means teaching the Houndour a lesson, than yes." Kevin was determined to keep moving.

"Well fine, do what you want." Cara walked back over to Joey. "Joey and I are going to stay here, and maybe try to knit this blanket back together."

"Ok. Lily Jane, are you going to stay here with them?" Kevin asked.

"No Kevin, I want to see those things get what's coming to them just as bad as you do. I'm coming with you."

"OKay, We'll see you guys later then. Squirtle, Hoothoot, let's go." Kevin said. Squirtle jumped into Kevin's arms, as Hoothoot sat on his shoulder. Kevin and Lilly Jane set off into the trees, careful to follow the Houndours footprints exactly. As they walked, Lily told Kevin all about her husband, and their life living on route 31, as Kevin told her about his pokemon journey, and all the chaos they've been through so far.

Soon, they arrived at the end of the footprints. They lead into a cave. Kevin and Lily were careful to stay close to one another. There was chewed fruit all over the floor of the cave. They soon arrived to the source of the footprint. They were Houndour, but there was something different about them. They were baby Houndour. Almost five, all sharing the bacon that was stolen from them. Kevin spotted one taking a bite of a banana and spitting it out. "Those good for nothings, don't waste that fruit."

"Kevin wait dear." She held him back. "These are babies. Those other Houndour have probably been stealing food for their young."

Meanwhile, Cara tried her hardest to finish stitching the blanket up. "Ugh, this is hopeless!" She threw the blanket down in frustration.

"When is Kevin gona get back. THis is boring." Joey sulked.

"What seems to be the problem kids." A voice said. A man was riding down the path on a wagon, lead by a ponyta.

"Hello sir, we've just been tryig to put our blanket back together." Cara smiled.

"Well, that's a shame." The man frowned, "My wife has a knitting kit at home, I could take you there if you want."

"That would be great!" Cara smiled.

"Okay, hop on back and I'll take you there." He said pointing to the back of the wagon. Cara and Joey climbed onto the wagon, and the man set off for his house.

Lily Jane and Kevin sat thinking what to do next. "So what your saying is the Houndour are just trying to help their babies?" Kevin asked.

"Exactly." She nodded. "We can't really blame them for that."

"Well if the adults aren't here, they're probably out trying to get more food for lunch." Kevin sat thinking hard.

"OH NO!" Lily quickly jumped up.

"What's wrong?" Kevin asked.

"My husband is on his way home with a wagon full of groceries. They might be after him!" She said with her face full of fear.

"Then let's hurry back and let the others know what's going on." Kevin said running out of the cave. Lily Jane followed. They ran as fast as they could all the way to camp, scared they'd be too late. When they got there, they were surprised to see that more than the food was missing this time. Cara and Joey were gone.

"Where are they?" Kevin looked around. He saw a note on the ground. He read it aloud. "'Dear Kevin, went with this man on his wagon to help get the blanket fixed. Be back before lunch. From, Cara and Joey.' A man in a wagon? Who could that be?"

"My husband." Lily exclaimed. "Your friends could be in terrible danger."

Joey and Cara sat on the back of the wagon. They had never done anything like this before so it was a real treat. Cara noticed all the grocery bags in the back of the wagon. "So, did you just come back from the store or something?" She asked.

"That's exactly where I came back from." He nodded, "I had to pick up some milk and some other things for a picnic my wife and I are going to have."

"Picnic? Hey, you must be Lily Jane's husband!" Cara exclaimed.

"Yes, my name is Bobby Fox, but how do you know my wife?" He asked curiously.

"Well Mr. Fox, this morning your wife was attacked by a pack of Houndour." She explained.

"Yeah, they were really scary looking too." Joey added in.

"What?" Bobby suddenly stopped the cart. "When did this happen? Is she alright?"

"Your wife is fine." Cara assured him. "She's with our friend Kevin. He was guarding her until you got back. I left them a note so we'll meet up with them by lunch time."

"Well I'm glad she's alright, but now I'm a bit more worried." Bobby pondered, "The Houndour are out again today on our side of the route. I hope they don't try to get the food in the kitchen again."

"What? You mean those pokemon break into people's houses too?" Joey jumped up in fear. Cara held him close.

"Oh yes." Bobby explained, "They're all so desperate for food, they do anything for it. And 90% of the time, they're sucessful. I just wish there was a source of food for them, where they could go so they would stop taking other people's food."

"Yeah, that would goo-WOAH!" Cara was interupted by a sudden thump that almost knocked the wagon over. "What was that?"

"Cara, I'm scared." Joey grabbed onto her even tighter.

"Shh, both of you be very still and very quiet." Bobby shushed the both of them. They could all hear growling outside of the wagon, as if they were being circled. Cara took another look at the groceries and knew immediately what was going on. The Houndour were going to take the food.

"Mr. Fox, the Houndour are after your food." She whispered, "If we don't do something fast, they'll bash right in here, and take it all, and who knows what we'll happen to us."

"Don't talk like that." He whispered, but stil with a firm voice, "As long as they're here it means that your friend and Lily Jane are safe. All we have to do is make a quick run for it and once we're in the home we can lock the doors and be safe. On the count of three, you and your little brother need to hold on tight. Ready, 1, 2, 3! PONYTA, GIDDYUP!"

"WAAAAHHHH!" Cara and Joey screamed as they felt the wagon move faster than ever. They held onto the sides for dear life. Cara could see the Houndour chasing them. She had to think fast or they might attack. She quickly pulled out Chikorita's poke-ball. "Chikorita, I choose you!" She threw it in the air, and Chikorita appeared.

"Chiko!" It chirped.

"Slow those things down with vine whip!" She ordered. Chikorita shot two long vines out of it's back that whacked the Houndour, making them slow down. "Yes! Great shot!"

"Nice job kid!" Bobby said as he focused on the road. They thought they were just about safe when one of the Houndour got back up. It show a flamethrower straight at one of the wheels, turning it to crisp and tiping it over.

"AHHHHH!" Joey screamed as his body slipped out of the wagon.

"Joey no!" Cara quickly grabbed ontp him, falling out herself, and taking Chikorita with her. Bobby tried to maintan balance, but the whole thing collapsed. The Houndour inched closer all growling.

"Cara, what do we do?" Joey whimpered. He looked up and saw a bundle of bubbles flowing over the Houndour. "What is that?" Cara and Bobby fox looked up as well. The Houndour looked up in confusion. Suddenly, Hoothoot exploded out of the bubbles releasing a quick attack on all three.

"Wait a go guys!" A voice said. It was Kevin, followed by Lily Jane close behind. "Are you guys alright."

"We'll survive." Cara sat up straight helping Joey up. Lily quickly ran to her husbands aid.

"Bobby, my love, are you okay?" She said helping him up.

"Oh Lily, stop babying me, you know I'm just fine." He smiled.

The Houndour sat up straight, all ready to attack. Kevin and Cara were ready to send some attacks right back. The Houndour charged for them.

"Squirtle, bubble beam, Hoothoot, quick attack!" Kevin commanded.

"Chikorita, you use quick attack too!" Cara did the same.

All pokemon ran towards each other. The attacks barely made the Houndour flinch. They knocked all three pokemon back and onto the ground. Squirtle, Chikorita, and Hoothoot didn't stant a chance.

"What are we going to do?" Lily held onto her husband tight. Joey's eyes were filling wth tears. He really thought he was going to die. He suddenly remembered something Mr. Fox said. _I just wish there was a source of food for them, where they could go so they would stop taking other people's food_.

"I got an idea!" Joey exclaimed. He called over to the Houndour. "Hey Houndours, if you want a good everlasting meal, you better follow me!"

"WHAT!?" Everyone else jumped. Joey ran sideways into the trees. All the Houndour followed, mouths drueling in hunger. Cara quickly followed, "Joey, what do you think you're doing?"

"Come on!" Kevin called over to Lily and Bobby. They all followed. They ran through the trees for what seemed like forever. The Houndour weren't catching up to Joey at all. It seemed like Joey knew exactly where he was going. Soon, they arrived at an opening in the forest. They looked up to see something amazing. Every single tree was full of berries and fruit. The Houndour stopped to see all the food.

"See, this is where I found all the fruit and berries earlier." Said Joey, "There's plenty of food for you to eat here." Joey picked an apple off of one of the tree and brought it to one of the Houndour. The Houndour took a bite of it, and then licked Joey's face. "Hahahaha, you're welcome!"

"I can't believe it. The Houndour are being....nice?" Cara said in confusion.

"Of course," Lily Jane walked up beside her, "All they need is food for their babies. And now, thanks to your little brother they have an endless supply."

"This is exactly what these little terros needed." Bobby Fox laughed.

"Nice going Joey." Kevin smiled. He turned to the Houndour, "Houndour, now that you have food for all your young, you have to promise never to bother anyone else's food again. Understand?"

"Howll!" The Houndour all nodded.

Later that day, the gang went to Lily and Bobby's house to eat some lunch. They discussed their whole adventure, and the food was delicious. "I'm so glad we could share our lunch with some new friends." Lily Jane smiled.

"I'm so glad we didn't get eaten by Houndour." Cara laughed.

"Well, Lily and I have decided to make that entire area a preserve for only the Houndour." Bobby explained, "Now they'll always have a place for their own food."

"That's great." Kevin smiled.

"And I hear you're on your way to Violet City, is that right?" He asked.

"Yea, we're hoping we can get there with out anymore drama." Kevin answered.

"Well, I'd be happy to give you a ride there after I can get the wagon fixed. It's not too far at all."

"Thanks. And thats tempting, but, I think you should stay here and focus on rebuilding your town. I'm sure now that the Houndour have stopped attacking, people will come back."

"That's very much appreciated young man, and I wish you all luck in the rest of your journey."

"But for now, who want desert?" Lily asked.

"We do!" All three kids raised there spoons. The day didn't end that bad afterall.


	10. Allknowing Teddy Prodigy

"One more day!" Kevin shouted happily to the sky, Squirtle was by his side, screaming as well. "Just one more day. By tommorrow morning we'll finally be in Violet City. No more long hikes, or sleeping on the ground, and we finally get to eat something other than fruit. I can't wait for a cheeseburger."

"You know," Cara said folding up her sleeping bag, "we would've been there by now if you hadn't played the modesty act and just let Mr. Fox give us ride there."

"But you see Cara, unliked you I have a heart." Kevin scowled.

"And unlike you, I have a brain. They come in handy every once in awhile." She stood up with a smirk on her face. "So guys, I think we should get a little bit of training done before we get on the road again. This might be our last chance before we get to the big city. I'm not sure how much room there'll be there."

"Okay, Squirtle, let's focus on perfecting your bubble beam." Kevin nodded to Squirtle.

"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle made imaginary muscles with it's arms.

"And Chikorita and I could probably make that move look even better." Cara said releasing Chikorita.

"But what can I do?" Joey asked, finishing putting his pajamas in his bag.

"I don't know.' She shrugged, "I'm sure you'll find something."

"I know, I'll go wander the forest to see if the Houndour want to play!" He started to march off when Cara grabbed him.

"Oh no you don't!" She said, "Sit down over there. You can watch us train."

"Fine." Joey sighed. This was the forth day in a row he had to sit around and watch his older sister along Kevin train with their pokemon. Kevin would tell Squirtle to make a bubble beam, and each time it would get a little fast. Next, he would tell Hoothoot to fly through them and it would pop every singly one. Then, Cara would tell Chikorita to make razor leaf for about the nine-hundredth time. Joey had just about enough of all that.

In the beginning Joey was real excited about going on a journey. And he was right to be. He got to go on all types of adventures, and see so many different pokemon. But, he was sad. He got to see Cara and Kevin mingle with their pokemon every day, but never once did he get to do that. He didn't want to watch it again. He stood up, careful to make sure they didn't see him, and made his way down the path.

"Man," He sighed, "watching those guys train sure isn't my idea of fun. I bet there's lots of fun things to do out here though." Joey's path was cut off by a dark figure who seemed to appear out of nowhere.

"Hello young child!" They said. The voice sounded like a woman. She was covered in a dark cloak, with a dark glasses. She cloak was blowing in the breeze. "I seek the one who sucks the honey from it's paws. Have you seen it?"

"Um...no." Joey said looking at his hands, "I definately don't have any honey on my hands. My mom makes me wash it off.

"No son," The woman bent down to him, "The one I search for is no human, it is a creature. The one who sucks honeyfrom it's paws will bring peace to our world. When it becomes the ruler, it shall give wealth to anyone who has faith in it, and bless them through their entire lives. I seek to serve it."

"Wow, thats soooo cool!" Joey said excitedly.

"Good, take this." The woman handed him a sheet of paper. It had a drawing of a dark small figure with it's hand in it's mouth. "Wait, so how can I find it? Huh?"

Joey looked up to see the woman was gone

Joey made his way back to camp, where Kevin and Joey were relaxing with their pokemon. He hoped they wouldn't notice that he left but of course, that would've been too easy. "Where have you been Joey?" Cara wagged her finger. "Didn't I tell you to stay here and watch us train."

"Your training's boring." He whined back, "I wanted to go for a little walk."

"After everything that's happened, don't you think it's a bit dangerous to just go for a stroll with out any supervision?" She continued to lecture him. She noticed the piece of paper in his hand. "What's that?"

"Oh yeah," Joey suddenly remembered the woman. "You'll never guess what happened. I ran into one of the servants to the one who sucks honey from it's paw."

"The one who sucks what from it's where?" Cara asked in confusion.

"What're you talking about Joe." Kevin laughed a little bit, taking the paper. He saw the picture of the figure with it's hand in it's mouth. "Wow, well it's sucking something from it's hand. "

"It's sucking honey!" Joey tried to explain. "See, the one who sucks honey from it's paw will bring peace to the whole world, and give i wealth to anyone who believes in its faith..or...something like that. Either way, I believe in it, and I want to find it as soon as possible."

"Joey, come on kid, there's no way that's true." Cara rolled her eyes taking the paper from Kevin. "Look at this. You can't even tell what the thing is from this picture. This whole 'legend' is probably fake."

"Nooo, it's real. I really think it's really real." Joey tried to convince her, but she wasn't having it.

"Okay fine. Believe what you want to, but we're getting on the road now!" She shoved the situation out of her mind and lead the gang down the road.

"Guys, you have to believe me!" Joey whined, "It's real! It's real, it's real, it's real, it's real, it's real!"

"In a couple of second your not going to be real if you don't shut your yap!" Cara said, starting to get annoyed.

"Hey, we're not completely shutting your idea out," Kevin tried to sympathize. "It's just a bit weird. If no one's ever seen this thing, how are we supposed to believe in it?"

"If you believe, that's all that matters." Joey smiled.

"I swear i've landed into a christmas santa tale." Cara muttered to Chikorita. Chikorita giggled a little bit. Suddenly as they were walking, their path was cut off by something. Something that was casting a great big shadow. Something with it's hand in it's mouth.

"It can't be..." Joey looked in disbelief.

"But, is it?" Kevin had the same look on his face.

"You can't be serious." Cara rolled her eyes again. The "something" moved closer, moving out of the sun, and revealing what it was. It was a pokemon. And it did have it's paw in it's mouth. It looked like a small teddy bear.

"THE ONE WHO SUCKS HONEY FROM IT'S PAW!" Joey quickly ran up to it and got on his knees. "I'm not worthy! I'm not worthy!"

"But...that's a pokemon." Kevin opened his guide book and searched for that pokemon. "It's called Teddiursa. It's a first evolution normal type pokemon, with a tan moon on it's forehead, and is known for...sucking honey from..it's paw."

"What?" Cara turned to Kevin is disbelief and snatched the book away from him. "Let me see that. This is just a coincidence."

"Forgive my liege, she knows not what she speaks." Joey said bowing down to the Teddiursa.

"Ursa?" Teddiursa turned it's head sideways in confusion.

"Alright that's enough." Cara walked over and picked up her little brother. "Time to go before anymore of this stuff gets into your head."

"No, no!" He squirmed, trying to get away from her tight grip, "I have to serve my lord if I want to be blessed by it's awesome power!"

"And how do you think it's going to do that?" She started to carry him away, "By using it's honey sucking skills to purify your past, present and future. That pokemon looks like my teddy bear, Mr. Chubby cubs. There's no way it's any different than an average pokemon."

"Yes it is!" Joey demanded, finally breaking out of her grip. "Guys, please! Can't we just hang around it for awhile, just to see if it can do anything?"

"Cara, what's the harm?" Kevin turned to her.

"Do you guys have something against getting to Violet City?" Cara was starting to get angry. "I mean seriously, this is about the 10th time this week you've let us get side tracked." Kevin and Joey both gave her pleading puppy dog eyes. "Fine!"

"Yay!" Joey cheered. So the three sat around Teddiursa, waiting for some magical power to come out. But nothing did. They sat for hours and hours. Every once in awhile it would take it's paw out of it's mouth to scratch it's nose, but other than that, it pretty much did nothing. By now, Kevin and Cara had both fallen asleep, and Joey was getting drowsy. Teddiursa got up and began walking away. Joey quickly woke himself up and went after it.

"Hey," He whispered. "Don't go! I want to see if you're really super and mystical like that lady said."

"Teddiurse!" Teddiursa signaled Joey to follow it. It happily skipped away.

"No wait," Joey didn't know what to do. he knew he wasn't suppose to leave without telling anyone, and that would've been the second time today. But as long as they were asleep..."Wait up!"

Joey quickly followed Teddiursa down the path, leaving Cara and Kevin in their slumber.

Joey followed Teddiursa very far down the path. He was worried about what would happen when Cara and Kevin discovered he was gone, but he was too determined to see the powers of this amazing being. Teddiursa suddenly stopped in it's tracks. It twitched it's nose twice, and ran off the path into the bushes. Joey suddenly got really excited. "Oh boy!" He shouted, following it quickly. "Is it time Teddiursa? Are you finally begin to summon the power you need to purify me, and all the people around me? Oh Teddiursa, is it time?"

"Ursa!" Teddiursa stopped once again jumping for joy. Joey's face turned into a frown when he saw what all the hype was about. They had come to another bushel of berries. Teddiursa quickly took a handful off of their limbs, offering some to Joey.

"No thanks." Joey refused with a sigh, "I've had enough of those lately to last a life time."

"Teddiurs," It shrugged, gulping an entire berry in one bite. It ate all of them happily, not once again offering to share. Joey couldn't help but laugh at the site of Teddiursa's messy eating.

"Haha," He giggled, pulling off a big leaf to help clean up, "You're getting berry juice all over your face. Here, let me wipe it off for you."

"Ted?" Teddiursa looked confused as Joey wiped off all the sticky liquid from it's cheeks. A smile cracked. It was beginning to like Joey's company. After putting it's paw back in it's mouth, it tapped Joey on the shoulder and ran the opposite way.

"You want to play tag?" Joey asked. Teddiursa gave a happy nod. "Well okay, then you better watch out because I'm going to get you."

Back at camp, Cara was slowly beginning to open her eyes. She sat up with a strect just before letting out a long yawn. She looked around to notice that something was missing. Teddiursa was gone, but even worse, Joey was gone too. "Joe?" She called out. "Joey, where are you? Kevin wake up now!"

"(Yawn) W-wha?" Kevin was half awake.

"Joey's gone, and I think Teddiursa's with him." She said really stressed. "Man, I knew this was a bad idea. I should've just said no."

"They couldn't of gotten that far." Kevin tried to reason, "besides, they probably just went for a short walk or something. What could happen?"

**"The boy thinks that bear is going to rule the world!" **Cara grabbed him by the collar. "If he thinks he has to do something to "serve" his "master" then ALOT could happen my friend."

"Alright, chill out." Kevin shoved her off of him. "We'll just go look for him now, and if worse comes to worse, Hoothoot, can search from the sky, okay?"

"Fine." Cara nodded. They set off down the path in search for Joey.

Meanwhile, Joey and Teddiursa had just finished there long game if tag, and were now laying down on the soft grass under the trees. "Wow Teddiursa," Joey smiled, "you're really fast!"

"Ursa!" Teddiursa giggled.

"I bet you're the fastest pokemon in the world." Joey joked. He sighed, "Hey, you know what? You should come to Violet city with us!"

"Ted?" Teddiursa looked confused.

"Yeah, it'd be alot of fun. And then you'd get to meet Chikorita, and Hoothoot. And you'd get to know Squirtle, Kevin, and Cara even better. You could be a part of our group. But...oh yeah..."

"Teddiursa?" Teddiursa stood up, wondering what was wrong.

"Oh (sniff)" Joey was beginning to cry a little bit. "I guess I forgot. I can't have a pokemon. I'm too little. Besides, by the time we get to Violet City, it'll be time for me to go home already."

"Ted.." Teddiursa began to get sad as well.

"But I sure am glad I got to meet you." Joey smiled, trying to lighten up the mood. Teddiursa smiled back.

"At last!" A voice exclaimed. Joey looked up to see the cloaked woman standing over him. She took his hand. "Dear child, bless you. You have helped me a great deal. You've found the one who sucks honey from it's paw."

"Er...yeah." Joey said, caught off guard. "Listen, about that myth, I think you might have made a mistake..--"

"Oh my lord!" The woman interupted, bowing down to Teddiursa, "It is a great honor to be in your presents. Please forgive me for taking so long. I have been through much to find you, but it is worth it, to be here under your grace."

"Ursa..." Teddiursa backed up in fear.

"Um...excuse me." Joey ran in front of Teddiursa. "Yeah, I think you need to go find another lord to worship, because this Teddiursa is just a normal Teddiursa."

"Child!" Her voice turned stern. "How dare you call the great one by that name. It is not your place. Now step aside so I may take it with me to the other worshippers."

"Hey! You're not taking Teddiursa anywhere! He's staying here with me."

"It's coming whether you step aside or not." The woman said, simply tossing Joey over onto the ground. She picked Teddiursa up. Teddiursa began to squirm and cry in fear.

"Ursa! Teddiurse! Ursa! Ursa!" It tried to break free.

"No! Let it go right now!" Joey demanded desperately.

"I am sorry child." She turned to him once more, "I never imagined that I would have to use force to claim victory on this day. But you will see..no, the whole world will see, that this is clearly for the greater good of all!"

"NO! Come back here! Please!" Joey cried out trying to chase her as the woman ran and then disappeared into the forest. Joey sat down and began to cry.

"Still no sign?" Kevin said, spotting Cara. They had split up to look for Joey and they were now meeting back up. Cara shook her head disappointedly.

"Not a sign nor trace of him anywhere." She sighed, "That Teddiursa's no where in sight either. Why does he feel the need to pull these disappearing acts so often?"

"Shhhh." Kevin shushed Cara.

"Don't shhhhh me!" Cara exclaimed, "I have every right to be as loud as i want right now, so don't you go shushing m--"

"Cara, shut up for one second." Kevin covered her mouth. "Don;t you hear that, it sounds like crying."

"(sniff)-over here." A voice said. Kevin and Cara turned to a tree. Someone was behind it. They walked around to see Joey crying in his knees.

"Finally!" Cara shouted, embracing her brother in a hug. "How many times do you plan on running away this week Joe? Should we stick around the forest another night so you can take another spin around alone?"

"I'm sorry." Joey sobbed, "I mess everything up. I'm sorry."

"Hey, hold on a second." Kevin bent down, Squirtle beside him. "What are you taling about? Talk to us. Where have you been?"

"Okay..." Joey sniffed, wiping the tears away. "I wanted to see if Teddiursa had any powers, so I left you guys while you were sleeping. At first, everything was fine. We played tag, and we talked, and it ate alot of berries. But then, the lady in the big black blanket came. And she took Teddiursa away."

"A woman in a blanket?" Kevin itched his head in confusion.

"Yeah, and I couldn't stop her!" Joey put his head back down. Squirtle patted him on the back. "She got away and now it's all my fault. Teddiursa could be in trouble now!"

"How long ago was this?" Cara asked.

"Right before you guys got here." He answered.

"This woman couldn't of gotten that far then." Cara said, "Joey, we might have a chance to save Teddiursa, but we're gonna have to hurry."

"No time to waste!" Joey's mood quickly changed, catching Kevin and Cara off guard. "We have to go now!"

Hoothoot was searching from the sky, doing it's very best to find the woman in black Joey was talking about. At the same time, Cara and Joey were searching, while Kevin and Squirtle were looking elsewhere. It was as if the woman had disappeared into thin air. The gang all met up. "Didja find her?" Joey asked anxiously.

"Sorry Joey." Kevin sighed. "She's absolutely nowhere."

"Then we have to keep looking. Maybe she went more back where we were a couple days ago. Near that place. What's it called? Cherry tree city?"

"Joe, we can't backtrack a whole week of travel for this." Cara held her brother still. Joey broke free of her grip.

"Than I'll just look for Teddiursa myself! You don't understand. You both have pokemon of your own but I don't. Teddiursa made me feel like I did. Tomorrow, I'm going home. I just want one more thing to complete my memory of this completely and totally awesome week! And Teddiursa is it! I have to see my friend one more time."

"I Understand ya Joey." Kevin bent down to him. "I'm making you a Kevin McNally promise. We won't go to Violet City until we find Teddiursa."

"Wha--" Cara's eyes widened at the sound of it.

"You promise?" Joey said, his eyes beginning to water up.

"Well, I do atleast." Kevin gave Cara an inciminating look. Cara rolled her eyes and sighed.

"I guess we can't leave the little stuffed animal alone out here with some psycho. It wouldn't be right."

"You guys are the bes---huh?" Just then, Joey could have sworn he heard something. Like a yelp? A cry? Teddiursa! He quickly stood up. "Guys! Teddiursa's crying for help."

"I hear it too. Hoothoot, fly up and tell us which direction." Kevin ordered. Hoothoot nodded and flew up. It could see the the woman still holding Teddiursa running down the path. Hoothoot began to fly off in the direction, and the group followed. When they arrived, they found the woman holding Teddiursa up into the sun.

"Oh great wise Honeysucker." She called out. "Release your powers to our world. Bring forth the other members so they may share in your glory."

"Hey Lady!" Joey shouted interupting the ceremony. "Teddiursa's coming with me right now."

"You again?" She turned around in anger. "I don't want to harm a helpless younge boy, but I will do what I must for this prodigy."

"I suggest taking some pills first." Cara butted in. "Have you taken a good look at your 'prodigy' lately? Cause if you haven't noticed, IT'S JUST A TEDDIURSA!"

"I don't know who you are, but I wouldn't expect you to understand the complexities of the prophecy."

"This is your last warning." Kevin stepped up. "Let go of the Teddiursa now, or you'll have us to deal with."

"Squirtle Squirt!" Squirtle nodded.

"Oh noo, it is you that will have to deal with me." The woman smirked pulling out a poke-ball. "Go Sneasel!"

"Squirtle, bubble beam now!" Kevin called out. Squirtle jumped into the air and spat out powerful bubbles, coming straight for Sneasel.

"No need! Icy Wind Sneasel!" The woman ordered. Snealsel opened it's mouth, and blew, causing a freezing wind to blow through the area. The bubbles turned to ice, falling to the ground and shattering. Kevin, Cara, Joey, Squirtle, and Hoothoot were all frozen solid. Teddiursa's eyes filled up with tears at the site of Joey frozen in ice. "hahaha! Don't you see my lord? These children are just one of the many here to deceive you. Come with me. There's an entire village of people waiting to serve you, and lead you to your ultimate destiny."

"Urmf urmf" Joey broke his head out of the ice. "Don't listen to her! Teddiursa. You're my friend. Believe me, you don't have to go with her if you don't want to. I've seen you. You're your own pokemon. You decide your own destiny."

"Ursa?" Teddiursa was deep in thought.

"I can tell you what to do, and so can this lady, but in the end you're the one whose going to have to choose. Do what feels right Teddiursa. You have to!"

"Ursa." Teddiursa nodded. It began to walk towards the woman. Joey became afraid, fearing Teddiursa really wanted to go with the woman. Suddenly, Teddiursa went into a rage and began rapidly attacking the woman and Sneasel.

"Ouch! Ow!" She screeched. "Stop it my liege, that hurts!" Joey laughed at the site. The woman finally backed down. "Argh! You obviously are not the true prophet! Sneasel, let us leave and search for the true one!" The woman and her Sneasel ran away in embarassment.

"Hooray!" Joey cheered. "See ya, wouldn't ever wanna be ya!"

"Ursa!" Teddiursa ran up and hugged Joey's face, which was at the moment the only unfrozen part of his body. Eventually, the ice melted away and everyone was free again. Just unbelievably chilly. The sun was setting and they were about to head into their final steps into violet City. Joey was saying his goodbyes.

"Well Teddiursa, it was nice meeting you." Joey said.

"Ursa?" Teddiursa turned it's head in confusion. It ran and clutched to Joey.

"Let go!" Joey broke out of the grip. His eyes began to fill up with tears. "Teddiursa....I have to go. A-and you can't come with me."

"Teddiursa!" Teddiursa jumped in disbelief.

"I know I said we're friends." He continued, "and that's true. We're best friends. But it doesnt change anything. I'm not old enough, and you can't come with me. S-so you have to get out of here. Now!" Joey was now in sobs.

"The poor kid." Kevin sighed looking at the scene from further away. "

"I feel so terrible about all this." Cara said watching as well. "Did you hear him earlier? I mean, he really loves this pokemon. I wish there was something I could do."

"Well there is something you could do." Kevin turned to her. Cara looked up at him in confusion. "You have a poke-ball right?"

"Oh." Cara caught onto what he was saying. She walked over to her brother who was still crying. She bent down next to him. "Haha, he really does look like Mr. Chubby Cubs, doesn't he?"

"Yeah, (sniff)" Joey talked over the lump in his throat. "He's soft like him too."

"Well you know Joey. I forgot Mr. Chubby Cubs at home. And well...to be honest I'm going to need a teddy bear to keep me safe in the dark nights out here."

"So?" Joey said still pouting.

"So I'm saying, I think it'd be best if Teddiursa came along with us."

"REALLY! YOU MEAN IT???" Joey almost exploded.

"Of course." Cara giggled. "That's only if Teddiursa would like to come of course."

"Teddi! Ursa!" Teddiursa jumped and hollered showing yes. Cara pulled out her poke-ball.

"Then come on in!" Cara held up the poke-ball. Teddiursa practically jumped directly inside. A click sound was heard, and Teddiursa was caught. Cara took a look at the ball. "Wow, I guess this would count as my first catch. Here you go, bro." Cara handed the ball to Joey.

"What? B-but I can't have a-"

"You're not keeping it." Cara winked at him. "Just think of it as babysitting. No battling or moves included. Deal?"

"I love you Cara." Joey hugged his big sister.

"And I love you Joey." Cara smiled returning the hug. Joey leaned out and released Teddiursa.

"Teddiursa! We're going to be best friends forever now. We'll get to do whatever we want. We can sing and dance, and eat berries and play tag, and.."

So, another conflict resolved, and another pokemon caught. Looks like the week went by faster than we thought. Nowng., Kevin and his friends will be in Violet City by the morning. But with Joey's new best friend, will he ever be ready to go home?


	11. City, Sweet City? Part 1

The long week has finally come to an end, as Kevin, Cara, and Joey take there final few steps into Violet City. Cara's eyes light up at the very site of the entrance. "I-it's like a dream." She said, eyes glimmering. "Someone pinch me? OUCH! I didn't mean literally Joey." She nursed her elbow at the spot where Joey had just pinched her.

"It wasn't me, it was Teddiursa." Joey said, hiding behind his new pokemon.

"Hey guys, cut it out!" Kevin said walking ahead. "We've finally made it. I mean, we can actually eat real food now! Pizza, cheeseburgers, fries, whenever we feel like it!"

"And no more sleeping on the cold wet ground." Cara added in catching up to him. "We get actual beds! Not to mention a shower, and a bath. We can drink water without little nasty floaty things in it!"

"Back to livin' the City life!" Kevin and Cara both cheered in unison. They barely noticed Joey who was sulking in the background.

"B-but didn't you guys like that stuff at all?" Joey said sadly. Both Kevin and Cara turned around looking confused. "I mean there's more to it than just that. We got to see all the pretty stars, and there was lots of open space to play in. Not to mention all the pokemon we got to see."

"Well sure." Kevin shrugged. "But we're going to get to do that kind of stuff all the time. The city's like a rare thing."

"Nuh-uh." Joey shook his head stubbornly. "YOU guys are going to do that stuff all the time. I'm going to be stuck in the city forever and ever and ever."

"Oh I see what's bothering you." Cara crouched down to her brother. "You're getting upset because you have to go home today, right?"

"Yeah." Joey crossed his arms. "And it's not fair that I have to go, just because I'm a little kid. Cara ran away from home too, so why doesn't she have to go back home?"

"Okay, alright, let's not get back into that!" Cara glared at her little brother.

"Listen Joey," Kevin began to speak. "Because Cara's a lot older than you, it means she's able to take care of herself more. Since you're younger you need someone to take care of you until you are older. And the best people to do that for you, are your parents." Joey sulked. Kevin saw the sad look on his face. "....uh....I'll make you a deal."

"What kind of a deal?" Joey looked up curiously.

"First, we'll go eat lunch. Then we can get on a phone, and let your parent know that you're safe. After that, we can ask them if they don't mind you traveling with us some more. Hey, we've taken good care of you so far right?"

"You mean it Kevin?" Joey's face lit up, almost brighter then when he first joined them. He gave Kevin a big hug. "You're the best friend ever Kevin."

"Haha, so are you ready to go inside the city?" Kevin asked.

"Better, I'll lead the way! Come on Teddiursa!" Joey and Teddiursa marched their way into the city's entrance. Squirtle followed as well. As they were walking in, Cara pulled Kevin by his scarf.

"Have you completely gone Bananas?" She whispered. "Mom and Dad will never in a million bajillion years let Joey come along with us."

"Who knows, maybe if they see how good we've taken care of him, they'll reconsider." Kevin said with an optimistic look on his face.

"Kevin, focus! We got the boy high on Hoothoot delusions, got him chased by a bunch of fire breathing dogs, and lost him several times. If I was a nanny I would definitely not hire myself."

"Look at him." Kevin pointed to Joey who was happily frolicking with the pokemon. "He's perfectly fine, and have you ever seen him happier."

"Look," Cara sighed. "Maybe you've forgotten, but I DID run away from home. If they find out where I am...they might make me come home. And for bringing my little brother along, that is double punishment. Kevin, we have to send him home."

"But...I promised him..." Kevin stood still deep in thought. Suddenly they heard a scream.

"KEVIN! CARA! HELP ME!" It was Joey. They both looked over to see Joey being picked up by two men in black dress suits.

"Let go of him!" Cara shouted running with Kevin to the scene. "Teddiursa, use scratch!"

"Squirtle, bubble beam now!" Kevin called out as well. Squirlte shot out his attack, as Teddiursa began running for the men. Both the men dodged the attacks. One of them pulled out a net and through it over the two pokemon. Squirtle and Teddiursa were trapped. Squirtle began to cry out loud. "Oh no, Squirtle!"

"Time for Plan B." Cara pulled out a poke-ball. "Chikorita, I choose y--AIIEE!"

"Give me that!" Another man in black said, grabbing Cara's arm, and prying the poke-ball out of it. He quickly picked her up over his shoulder.

"WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" Cara screamed, punching and squirming. "YOU JUST WAIT, WHEN I'M DONE WITH YOU YOU'LL BE SORRY."

"Put them down now--WAH!" Kevin was quickly lifted by two men. His feet were kicking as if he was still running. "Let me go! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!"

"This boy doesn't fit either of the descriptions." One of the men holding him said.

"Alright, then leave all of the dead weight behind. Including the pokemon and him." The other man holding him said.

"Huh?" Kevin said confused right before the two men slammed him to the ground and ran over to assist the other men.

"WHAT?" Cara shouted. "YOU MEAN HE'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH TO KIDNAP, BUT WE ARE? THAT'S DISCRIMINATION!"

"Don't worry guys I'm coming!" Kevin said running for them.

"WAHHHH, TEDDIURSA HELP ME!!!" Joey cried, squirming and screaming.

"I WILL NOT BE MANHANDLED! YOU JUST WAIT! KEVIN GET AN OFFIC--" A big puff of smoke was seen, and no more voices were heard. When the smoke cleared, all that was left were Squirtle, Teddiursa and Kevin. Kevin quickly removed the net and nursed Squirtle who was still crying.

"SQUUIIIRTTTLLE! SQUIRTLE SQUIRRR" Squirtle let out all of its tears.

"Shh, shh, you're okay." Kevin said. Teddiursa was clutched to his side. "Cara...Joey....where are you?"

-------

Kevin searched every place possible for his two missing friends. He asked every person he passed if they had seen the strange men. No such luck. He finally decided to take a break in the pokemon center. "Squirtle, Teddiursa, I just don't know where to look anymore."

"Squirtle." Squirtle sighed.

"Ursa..." Teddiursa sulked.

"Hey, don't get worried. Cara's not gonna let those guys keep her for long." Kevin smiled a bit. "Haha, she was even putting up a good fight when we last saw her. Screaming and kicking and stuff---wait! That's it!"

"Squir?" Squirtle looked up in confusion.

"Remember right before they disappeared? Cara tried to tell me something. She tried to tell me to get an officer. And Squirtle, whose the one officer we know who'd be willing to help us?"

"Squirtle!" Squirtle cheered showing he knew what Kevin was hinting at. Teddiursa looked confused.

"That's right, Renji!" Kevin said picking up the two pokemon. "Let's go call Professor Elm. I bet he could get us in touch with him." Kevin walked into the phone room. He quickly ran to the one closest to him, jotted down the number and in just a moment, Professor Elm was on the screen.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Professor, it's me Kevin!" Kevin greeted him with a smile.

"Oh Kevin. Hi there." The Professor smiled back. "It's good to hear from you. This must mean you've made it to Violet City already."

"Yeah, an-" Kevin tried to speak, but was interupted by the excited professor.

"That's marvelous! But your mother has been complaining about how she hasn't heard from you in awhile. I hope you called her before you called me."

"I would've but I just--"

"Oh Kevin. Always remember your mother. And where is Cara? You two are looking out for each other aren't yo--"

"Professor I need to ask you something!" Kevin finally blurted out. He seemed to have finally gotten Elm's attention. "Listen, I need you to get Renji for me. It's an emergency!"

"Renji? What for?"

"It's Cara, and her little brother Joey. They've just been kidnapped by a bunch of guys, and I don't know what to do now."

"Kidnapped? Oh no!"

"Right. I need you to tell Renji to get here, now!"

"I'm sorry Kevin, but Renji's on an important mission right now. I don't think I can pull him out of it. But did you say Cara AND Joey?"

"Yeah."

"Oh dear..."

"What is it Professor?"

"Word on the street is Joey ran away from home. And his parents, being so protective, have sent out a search team to find him."

"So you mean....those thugs are working for their parents?"

"I guess so. I guess they got what they were looking for."

"I think their looking for more than just Joey Professor."

"What do you mean?"

"Cara ran away from home too. Her parents probably hired those guys to find them both."

"Hmm. I'm not sure those adults are going the right way about this. Kevin, you need to find those two."

"I'm going to do my best Professor. And thanks." Kevin nodded reassuringly, right before hanging up the phone. He sat deep in thought. "Now, if those guys are taking them home, where's the first place they would head."

"Squirtle!!" Squirtle got an idea. It began to make gestures. It was making large whistle noises, moving it's arms back and front, in an almost circular motion. Kevin caught on almost immediately.

"That's it! The train station!" Kevin quickly picked the two pokemon up again, and ran out of the pokemon center.

Meanwhile, Cara's eyes were slowly opening. She felt cushy leather seats under her. She was inside of a limo. It took her a minute to remember what happened when she layed eyes on one of the men from earlier. "Is this the part where I'm supposed to cough suggestively?" She said angrily.

"Well well. Look who's up." The man smirked. "It's a good thing. You might want to wake your brother up. We've almost arrived at the train station." Cara looked over to her brother who was lying fast asleep.

"Wait a second, the train station? Kind of a down-grade from this limo isn't it?"

"They don't allow auto-vehicles on the routes. The train is the only way to get you kids back home safe where you belong."

"WHAT?" Cara shrieked. "Look here Men in Black, I left home for a reason. Now you stop this car right now and let me and my brother out. Who lets you decide where I go anyway."

"No more talking. We're here."

"Good! Joey wake up!"

"Huh, wha--" Joey woke up, with a little bit of drool on his face. "Cara where are we? I'm scared."

"You're going to be fine. But when I say run, you run okay?" Cara whispered to him. They began to step out of the limo, the men close behind them. Cara waited for the exact right moment. They had already entered the train station. Joey was clutched to Cara's side. "Okay, 1....2....3...RUN!!"

"Hey, come back here" The men began to chase the two through the station. Cara held Joey by the hand, carrying him through every twist and turn she could find. They had finally came to the terminal. She turned to her right and spotted Kevin, Squirtle, and Teddiursa on the other side of the track.

"Kevin!" Her face lit up.

"Teddiursa!" Joey jumped for joy.

"Guys!" Kevin spotted them. "Quick, cross the tracks. I have something to tell you!"

"We're coming." Cara was pulling Joey, when suddenly a train zipped in front of them, cutting them off from Kevin and stopping them from crossing the tracks. She began to turn around when the Men approached them.

"What are we gonna do now?" Joey whined backing up in fear. Cara turned around again, this time seeing the train doors open. A man and a woman were the first to step out. Cara couldn't believe her eyes. "Mom.....Dad???"

Cara's eyes were widened to the size of baseballs. This was her worse nightmare, and more. Her palms were sweaty, and the hairs on the back of her neck were beginning to stand up. She was even subconsciously biting her nails. She blinked over and over to make sure she was seeing straight. "Wha--hu--y-you can't be here!" She finally was able to stammer.

"Neither can you." Cara's mother said stepping off of the train with her husband.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Joey quickly ran to his parents in a hug. He was excited to see his parents, just as any 8 year old kid would be.

"Well...hehe" Cara inched away nervously. "I guess you're here to pickup Joey. As you can see, his safe and well. So I'll be goin--"

"Oh no you don't." Her father grabbed her by the arm. "You're coming with us. We can discuss your punishment on the ride home."

"What? But that's not fair!" Cara snapped away from his hand.

"Can't you just be happy to see us?" Father once again pulled her, this time into a hug. Cara sighed and returned the hug.

"Mommy! We gotta get out of here quick." Joey looked up at his mother, pointing to the men behind them. "Those big guys are trying to eat us."

"Those guys?" She giggled. She turned to the men. "You don't have to be scared of them. They were only trying to return you home safe where you belong."

"Huh??? You mean Tall, Dark, and Ugly are all working for you?" Cara was even more shocked now than before. "THOSE GUYS AMBUSHED US AND STOLE MY CHIKORITA!"

"Shh. We'll explain everything on the train ride home." Her father shushed her, walking her towards the train stores.

"Wait! We can't go home yet." Joey stopped walking. "I still have to get Teddiursa."

"Yeah. And I want Chikorita back, now!" Cara demanded.

"And what about our friends Kevin and Squirtle?" Joey added in. "We can't just leave our friends behind."

"Don't worry, we're here!" A struggling voice said. It was Kevin, with the pokemon. They were climbing over the train before falling flat on their faces.

"Wow I guess it's true." Cara rolled her eyes. "Speak of the devil, and the devil shall appear."

"Argh! I heard that, and after all I went through to get here you better be greatful!" Kevin snapped.

"Teddiursa!" Joey hugged the teddy. "Look, these are my mom and dad!"

"Huh?" Kevin looked up to see the two adults. "Uhhh...Mr. and Mrs. Clark. You're here?"

"Yes Kevin, good to see you again." Mrs. Clark nodded half-heartedly.

"Uhmm...no offense, but your men kinda pummeled me to the ground earlier." Kevin said rubbing the bump on his head.

"Hmph. Who asked you?" Mr. Clark snapped.

"Wha??" Kevin jumped caught off guard by the father's attitude. "Wha-did I do something wrong?"

"Yeah, what's with you dad?" Cara said.

"Kevin's our friend." Joey nodded clutching onto Teddiursa.

"I don't want you guys hanging around him any longer." Mrs. Clark said firmly. "Get on the train now."

"Huh? Now wait just a second, I didn't do anything wrong." Kevin was beginning to get angry.

"As far as we're concerned young man, you're the one who kidnapped our children in the first place." Mr. Clark shot an incriminating finger at Kevin. Suddenly, two of the bulky men grabbed Kevin by the arms, lifiting him off the ground.

"What? No! Let me go! Let me go! Let me go!" Kevin shouted squirming in the two grips.

"What do you think you're doing." Cara was beginning to get angry. "Did someone steal your brains while we were away?"

"Y-you're hurting him!" Joey's eyes began to fill up with tears.

"We won't hurt him anymore if you get on the train now." Mrs. Clark said calmly. "Get on now." Cara and Joey looked at each other, than once back again at Kevin.

"I-I..." Cara didn't know what to do.

"Cara, we have to! Kevin could get really hurt!" Joey said whiping away the tears.

"R-right." Cara nodded. They joined hands and walked onto the train, as their parents followed. They looked back at their friend one last time.

"No!!" Kevin did his best to fight out of the men.

"Squirtle...Teddiursa..." Joey was whimpering. "I'll miss you."

"Kevin...I'm sorry." Cara turned her head away. She couldn't look as the train doors closed, and it began to pull away from the station. The men dropped Kevin on his face once again. Squirtle and Teddiursa quickly ran to him, helping him up. The train was gone.


	12. City, Sweet City? Part 2

**A/N This chapter has a lot of talking, and very little action so I hope you don't find it boring. It just shows some much needed closure for the Clark family. **

The gang thought they had finally made it safety, when they arrived in Violet City after the long and hard week. But they were proved wrong when Cara and Joey were immediately ambushed by a gang of men dressed in black. As turns out, it was a search team sent from their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Clark. Now, Kevin is left alone in the train station, as Cara and Joey take their train ride home.

"Stop fidgeting Cara!" Mrs. Clark said to her daughter as she rested her eyes. Cara was pacing back and forth.

"Stop fidgeting?" Cara turned to her mother extremely agitated. "Stop fidgeting?? You basically just ruined my life, and the only thing you can say is stop fidgeting?"

"All I'm saying is that if the train hits a bump, you'll be the first to fall." Mrs. Clark continued pleasantly. "Have a seat, and get some rest. I'm sure you haven't had a good night sleep in forever."

"For your information, sleeping under the stars is the best kind of sleep you can get!" Cara crossed her arms stubbornly.

"But Cara….you just said earlier that—" Joey began to add in when Cara quickly covered his mouth over.

"I'm trying to make a point here so keep your mouth shut, will ya?" She whispered to him. She continued to sulk and whine. "I hope you both understand that I will probably never forgive you for this. Never ever in a million years."

"That's it!" Mr. Clark finally spoke. "We can discuss your punishment and everything else when we get home. I don't want to hear another word the rest of the train ride."

"Ughhh!" Cara groaned in frustration. Joey was staring out the window. The train was beginning to leave out of the city. All of their traveling progress was about to be erased. Cara looked around the train, desperate to find a way to get out. She noticed one of the men in black were sitting in the front of the train, guarding the door. She recognized him. It was the one who took Chikorita's poke-ball. Her traveling bag was right next to him. A smirk came across her face as she got an idea. Oh so subtly, she walked up next to the man, leaning against the door in a casual cool way.

"Hey." She nodded to him.

"What's up…" The man nodded back.

"So, hard day, eh?" Cara said slowly reaching for a water bottle in her bag and pulling out.

"You can say that again." The man laughed a little.

"Heh. Yeah well listen, I just wanted to apologize for all the trouble I caused you." Cara said with a very sweet voice, beginning to unscrew the water bottle cap. "I may be mad at my parents but you didn't deserve to go through all this trouble. I have all the sympathy for you."

"Well thank you young lady, I appreciate that." The man smiled turning to her. Cara then took the water bottle, and splashed man's suit jacket with it. "HEYY!!"

"Cara, what did you do?" Mrs. Clark turned around.

"Oh no, I'm sorry, the train hit a bump." Cara lied slyly. "I guess you were right mom."

"What the heck did you just get on me?" The man examined his jacket trying to figure out what the liquid was.

"Uhmm..it's juice. Clear, white grapefruit juice." Cara lied again. "It'll stain. You better take your jacket off so it doesn't seep through to your shirt too." The man nodded and began to take the jacket off. "I think my mom has a towel over there. You should go ask her for one."

"Thank you little girl, and I'm sorry for getting angry." He patted her on the head than walked over to Mrs. Clark. Cara than immediately began to run her hands through the suit jacket pockets.

"Bingo!" She smiled as her hands landed on exactly what she was looking for. Chikorita's poke-ball. She pulled it out and threw it into the air. "Chikorita, come out!"

"Chiko!" Chikorita cheered happy to out in the open again.

"Cara, what do you think you're doing?" Mr. Clark stood up.

"Don't take another step or Chikorita attacks." Cara warned him. Chikorta was ready to attack.

"You dirty little—" The man grunted. Joey quickly ran behind Cara.

"Cara, Joey, we're your parents. Don't do this." Mrs. Clark pleaded. Cara was frozen. She didn't want to attack her own flesh and blood, but how else was she going to get off of the train?

Meanwhile, Kevin was running out of the city, the train still in his sight. He wanted to do everything in his power to stop it. Squirtle and Teddiursa were close at his side. "The train's too fast. We're going to lose it."

"Ursa!" Teddiursa started to whine. Kevin suddenly had an idea.

"Hey! Hoothoot can fly a lot faster than us, and we haven't used it's psychic powers in awhile." Kevin grabbed Hoothoot's poke-ball and released it. "Hoothoot, I know I said I didn't want you to use your psychic for evil, but this is an emergency. Quick, fly to the front of that train and confuse the engineer!"

"Hoot." Hoothoot nodded and flew at lightning speed to the of the train. It's eyes began to glow red. Kevin, Squirtle, and Teddiursa heard a scream as the train began to swerve.

"Mission accomplished." Kevin smiled.

Cara and Joey began to teeter off balance as the train swerved back and forth. Mr. and Mrs. Clark began to charge for them. "Chikorita, razor leaf now!" Cara cried out. Chikorita shot the attack. The impact from the attack caused the train to teeter even more. The engineer wasn't seeing straight at all. Suddenly, the train tipped all the way over.

"AHHHHH!!!" Everyone on the train screamed. The train fell onto the grassy route, as dust and dirt caused a cloud of smoke all around it.

"Hoothoot! Guys!" Kevin cried out in fear for his friends. "I wanted to stall the train but this wasn't what I had in mind. We have to help them!"

"Squirt!" Squirtle nodded. Kevin and the two pokemon ran towards the disastrous scene.

Cara slowly opened her eyes. She felt a sharp pain on her head. The light on the train were out except for one still flickering on and off. She could see her parents and the man dressed in black lying on the ground. Joey was crying in the corner, next to Chikorita. "Joey!" She ran over to him. "Are you okay?

"No. My leg hurts." He said clutching his leg.

"You're going to be fine, okay? Come help me wake mom and dad up." She began to walk over to her parents. Joey crawled over beside her. "Hey, Mom! Wake up! You're okay, come on."

"Hmmm—" Mrs. Clark slowly opened her eyes. Mr. Clark was beginning to come to as well. "W-what happened?"

"I'm not sure." Cara looked around. "I-I think the train fell over."

"Fell over?" Mrs. Clark jumped up. "You mean we're off the track? How did this happen?"

"Looks like it we made a pretty big ditch in the ground." Mr. Clark said examining the windows. "I don't know how we're going to get out of this."

"We're going to be stuck here forever." Joey continued to cry. Chikorita whipped his tears with the leaf on its head. Suddenly, they heard someone moving. The Engineer was crawling into their car.

"Is everyone okay?" He called out.

"We're fine." Mrs. Clark said. "What happened?"

"Some crazy Hoothoot showed up and started messin' with my mind." He explained. "I couldn't think straight, I couldn't see straight. I could've sworn there were bugs crawlin' all over the place, but I guess I just imagined all that. Darn bird's a dirty trickster." Cara and Joey both gave guilty looks to each other. They knew there was only one Hoothoot who would do that.

"Well I'm sure it didn't help with Cara shooting attacks everywhere back here." Mrs. Clark muttered.

"W-wait a second are you blaming me?" Cara turned to her mother in disbelief.

"I'm just saying it's something we could've done without." Mrs. Clark shrugged it off.

"Oh-ho right." Cara laughed sarcastically. "And I guess kidnapping us on this train in the first place made matters so much better, right?"

"Don't take that tone of voice with me." Mrs. Clark wagging a motherly finger at Cara.

"Alright that's enough." Mr. Clark said trying to calm everybody down. "Look, we might be in here for awhile and bickering back and forth is not going to solve anything. So let's just not talk about it, alright?"

Kevin had finally made it to the crash. He coughed his way through all the dust and dirt when he finally found the train. It was crunched up in such a way that seemed like it was impossible to get in. The walls were thick with medal, and the doors were either severely disfigured, or filled to the brim with dirt. "Okay guys, here's the plan." He began, "Teddiursa, call out for Cara and her family. When you find them, come get us. Squirtle and I are going to find a weaker spot on the train, that way we can make an opening and get them all out of there. Okay?"

"Ursa!" Teddiursa nodded.

"Squirtle!" Squirtle did the same. Teddiursa immediately began banging and calling out for Joey loudly. Kevin and Squirtle were feeling along the sides of the train. Squirtle was digging away places where the dirt had covered, and out popped Hoothoot, looking tired and confused.

"Hoothoot!" Kevin smiled. It looked up at him sadly. "Don't worry Hoothoot, we're going to save everyone and they'll be fine. You didn't do anything wrong. Return."

"Hoot!" it nodded as a red light sucked it into the poke-ball. Kevin and Squirtle continued to search.

Back inside, Mr. Clark was wrapping the cut on Joey's leg. The Engineer was whistling a tune, as the man dressed in black was still knocked out cold. Cara was sulking in a corner with her arms crossed. "Ouch, that hurts!" Joey said in reaction his father tying the knot.

"It does now but it'll feel a lot better later." He promised. "You're being very brave Joey."

"That's cause Im a big boy." Joey whipped the tears off his face.

"That's right, you are." Mr. Clark smiled.

"And I'm big enough to do anything. I can even go on journeys too." Joey whimpered.

"Oh can you now?" Mr. Clark smiled slyly, "But then who would kiss you goodnight at night?"

"Cara would. She did all this week." He replied.

"Make you dinner?"

"Cara."

"Clean your clothes…"

"Cara does all that."

"Hmmm. Well don't tell her I told you this, but I don't think Cara's any match for the tickle monster." Mr. Clark began to tickle Joey's sides. Joey exploded with laughter.

"Hahahahaha, ok hahaha, I get it, haha, stop it! Haha" Joey squirmed in his dad's arm. He stopped tickling. Joey gave him a hug. "I missed you dad."

"I missed you too." Mr. Clark returned the hug.

"Blech." Cara stuck out her tongue at the scene. Mrs. Clark turned around noticing Cara's arm.

"Cara, your hurt." She began to walk over.

"It's just a little scratch. I'm fine." Cara said coldly.

"Give me your arm sweetie." She reached out for Cara's arm.

"Let go of me!" Cara jolted her arm away. "I don't need your help. I don't want it either."

"How long are you going to act like this?" Mrs. Clark put her hands on her hips. "How long is it going to take you to see that you belong at home with your father and I?"

"It's never going to happen, because that's not true."

"Right. Because you can take care of yourself, right? Because your responsible? Guess what Cara, responsibility isn't running away. It's not packing up, leaving and not letting anyone know where you are. Do you have any idea how worried I was? I didn't sleep Cara. For days."

"If I had asked you would have never let me go.."

"And for good reason. Cara, you are not ready."

"Whatever. I'm done with this conversation."

"So you're just going to sit here?"

"I'm waiting for Kevin to come. "

"Ohho, Kevin. And what makes you so sure the knight is coming for you dear princess?"

"Because Kevin is our friend. And no matter what people like you do to him, he doesn't give up on his friends. Kevin is the same age as me and he was able to start a journey all by himself. What makes him so much more responsible than me? What makes me so much less responsible than more than half the ten year olds in Newbark town?"

"Maybe those kid's parents don't care for their children like we care about you?"

"Are you serious?" Cara began to get more angry when they heard a banging from above. They faintly heard a voice.

"Ursa! Teddiursa!" It called out.

"Teddiursa!" Joey called out in glee.

"Teddiursa, that means Kevin must be here!" Cara quickly ran from her mother. "Teddiursa! We're here!"

"Ursa!" Teddiursa cheered. It quickly called over to Kevin and Squirtle and called them over. They both ran over as fast as they could.

"Cara? Joey?" Kevin called down.

"Kevin!" Joey cheered again.

"Thank goodness." Cara sighed in relief. "Get us out of here now!"

"We're working on it." Kevin replied. "We think we found a spot where we break an opening. You're just going to have to travel a few cars down to get to it."

"Ughh, can't you just do some super Squirtle bubble action and blast us out of here?" Cara groaned.

"The walls are too thick. Travel down west to get to the last car. We'll be waiting to help you out." Kevin said than ran back down to get the opening.

"Kevin, wait!" Cara called after him. She grabbed Joey's hand"Fine, come on Joey we're getting out of here."

"You just hold on a second young lady." Mr. and Mrs. Clark followed behind her.

"Hey what about the—" The engineer said gesturing to the knocked out man. He sighed and began to pull the man along.

"I told you he'd come mom." Cara said leading the group through the dark train.

"And who's to say he's actually going to get us out of here? Don't count your chickens before they hatch." Mrs. Clark replied

"Everyone stop talking. We need to concentrate." Mr. Clark said.

"Is that how you solve everything?" Cara turned to him. "Just shut your mouth and the words will eventually dissolve themselves, right dad? That's how it's always been."

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"We never could talk about anything." Cara continued. "If I had a concern it just got brushed under the rug. My grades, my sports, and especially my pokemon journey. Heck, you left me with no choice but to run away."

"Yeah, ok Cara." Mr. Clark rolled his eyes brushing the situation off.

"There you go again." Cara laughed. "It's like you looked me in my face and told me, shut up or run away. Well I have too much to say!"

"And what did your actions say to us?" Mr. Clark began to shoot back. "You ran away from us Cara. After all we've done for you it's like you're telling us you don't want to be with us. Like you don't love your family."

"You don't know how wrong you are." Cara shook her head. "I love you guys. More than anything in this whole world, I love you. But this journey, it's not about you. It's about me doing something I really want to do. And I ran away because I wasn't about to let your fears of letting go keep me away from that."

"But Cara-" Mrs. Clark tried to speak.

"But I guess I was wrong. I guess you guys will never understand. Normal parents would come and talk to me, but no, you guys hired a group of body building man to ambush us and force us home. I don't think it's impossible to fight odds like that."

"I don't know what to say to you to show you that this just isn't right." Mrs. Clark was speaking calmly. "So maybe when we get home you'll come back down to reality."

"That won't work." Joey finally spoke out.

"What?" Mrs. Clark turned around.

"It won't work cause that's not true." He continued.

"Joey stop it! Not you too."

"It's the truth though mommy. I swear. We took such great care of each other this week. Me, Cara, and Kevin too. Cara sang me lullabies to sleep too."

"You…you did?" Mrs. Clark was caught off guard. Cara nodded.

"She was even going to make me go home to make you happy mommy." Joey smiled. "I didn't want to go home. But, if you're really sad, then I'll come home with you."

"Joey…I…" Mrs. Clark began to speak when she saw they had come to the last car. "Huh?"

"We made it!" Cara ran up to the wall. "Kevin, we're here! Can you hear me?"

"Yeah. I'm here, but Squirtle's bubble beam isn't doing the job." Kevin called to them. "I can't pull this side open by myself. Help me!"

"Wait just a second kids.." Mrs. Clark began

"Okay, Joey come here and help me push." Cara called over to him. Joey ran over to her. "On the count of three. One…twoo..three…push!"

"Pull guys!" Kevin said to Squirtle and Teddiursa. Cara and Joey were pushing as hard as they could, as Kevin and the pokemon were on the other side trying equally as hard. Mr. and Mrs. Clark's mouths dropped to the floor as they watched the children work so hard together.

"We should help…" Mrs. Clark began to reach out when her husband grabbed her.

"Wait honey. Let's just see what happens." Mr. Clark said not taking his eyes off the scene. Slowly but surely, they began to tear the side away, and light seeped into the train car. They could see Kevin and the pokemon now. They finally had it down enough to make through. Joey and Cara quickly to Kevin and the pokemon, and they all joined in a hug.

"Are you guys alright?" Kevin asked.

"We're fine." Cara assured him.

"I missed you Kevin." Joey said hugging Kevin's leg.

"Y-you did it!" Mrs. Clark was astounded. "I was so sure that you would need our help, but you didn't….How is this…"

"You all worked together, so so well." Mr. Clark was slightly less dumbfounded than his wife. The Engineer dragged the man in black out into the opening. He finally began to wake up.

"What happened..?" He said seeing stars.

"Go back to sleep superman." Cara rolled her eyes pushing the man back down and knocking him out. She saw her mother walking off into the sunset. "Mom…"

"Your mother and I need to talk." Mr. Clark rested his hand on Cara's shoulder. "Why don't you kids go take a rest at the pokemon center and we will meet you there a little later."

"Sure…" Cara nodded. She watched her dad walk to her mother. She saw her mother begin to cry into his arms.

An hour or so later, Kevin, Cara, and Joey were inside the pokemon center, waiting for their pokemon to be healed. Cara was sitting deep and thought. She hadn't said a word the whole time. Joey and Kevin were busy playing games. Kevin finally looked up at Cara and walked over. "Are you okay?"

"Huh?" Cara finally snapped out it.

"You haven't said a word at all." He said.

"Oh, I was just thinking about this week. That's all."

"What about it?" Joey said coming over and plopping down.

"Well, first of all it was the best week ever." She began, "But maybe I did go about it the wrong way…Don't get me wrong I'm not saying mom and dad were completely wrong, but I wasn't completely right either. I mean I left them. I worried them. I put Joey in danger. That's no way to prove I deserve to be on my own."

"Well Cara, I can't disagree with you." Kevin shrugged.

"So, maybe I owe it to them to make it up." She continued, "Maybe I need to go home and fix things, than start my journey over when I'm ready."

"W-wha?" Kevin jumped up. "You mean you guys are really going to do it? You're gonna go home..?"

"We don't have a choice." Cara tried to explain when the doors to the center open and Mr. and Mrs. Clark entered. Mrs. Kent walked straight up to Cara.

"Sweetheart, can we talk?" She asked sweetly. Cara walked over to the corner with her mother. Mr. Clark turned to Kevin.

"Kevin, we've been talking and we owe you an apology." He said. Kevin began to speak but Mr. Clark didn't give him the chance. "You weren't the one who forced Cara or Joey to run away. They did that on their own for whatever reason. I guess we were a tad bit jealous, because you're someone new in their life who they really care about. And whether we like it or not, that's how it's going to be for awhile now."

"Wait, do you mean..?" Kevin began to piece everything together.

---

"Cara, this is really hard for me to go into," Mrs. Clark began, "so please just bare with me. I'm sorry."

"Sorry?" Cara was caught off guard. "Mom, you don't have to apologize for anything. I'm the one who ran away."

"But we're the ones who chased you away. And as a mother, I should know a lot better than to send people after you, or insult your friends. I should have been there for you through all of this."

"No you have it all wrong. I should have waited a little longer. Maybe sat down and talked you or something. I'm the one who went about this the wrong way. Either way, I guess we can just work on this when we get home, right?"

"I am not going to force you to come home Cara. Not after all of this. Can I show you something?" Mrs. Clark began to go through her bag, and then pulled out a case handing it to Cara. Cara opened the case and saw six different colored ribbons.

"Uhmm…these ribbons are very pretty and all, but I usually wear my hair down." Cara said confused at what the case was supposed to be.

"These are contest ribbons." Mrs. Clark giggled a little bit. "Cara, I was coordinator."

"A what-a-nator?" Cara continued to itch her head. Mrs. Clark put her arm over her shoulder.

"I'll tell you all about it. " She smiled walking over to Joey. "I have a feeling you'll be interested. But first your father and I have to tell you two something."

"We're going to let you continue your journey with Kevin." Mr. Clark said.

"REALLY?" Joey shot out with glee.

"But there are some rules first." Mrs. Clark added in. "You call us or write us at least once a week. You miss a week and you're both on the first train home, understand?"

"Yes ma'am." Cara nodded, unable to contain her joy. She engulfed both of her parents in a hug. "Thank you so much. I love you guys."

"Me too." Joey jumped in the family hug.

"And we love you." Mr. Clark smiled back. Just then, the train engines walked into the pokemon center.

"Everyone, I have an announcement." He called out to the whole room. "The train will be down temperamentally for the rest of the night, but it will running again in the morning. Please make arrangements."

"Well looks like you guys won't be leaving right away." Cara smiled up at them. "Why don't we all go out for dinner? Just the family."

"Kevin can come too, right?" Joey asked sweetly. "And Teddiursa, and Squirtle, and everyone?"

"Of course." Mrs. Clark smiled at Kevin. Kevin walked to the happy Clark family. They all walked out of the pokemon center together. Cara was no longer living her nightmare. She was finally living her dream.


End file.
